Copenhagen, Denmark: Genetic testing is widely used across the developed world in order to diagnose and predict disease. However, along with its usefulness comes concern about how others, such as employers and insurers, can have access to and use its results. This in turn leads to the risk that individuals may avoid medically recommended genetic testing, […]
Market pressures and inadequate production are hampering access to essential antibiotics, including those for treating babies and children
Antibiotics used to treat a variety of common bacterial infections are becoming more difficult to access, mostly because the drugs are less profitable for manufacturers to produce and market. Writing in a commentary in Clinical Microbiology and Infection [1], researchers say the problem is particularly acute for formulations needed to treat sick babies and children. […]
Brachytherapy rather than surgery is a good option for cancer of the penis
Vienna, Austria: Results from the largest group of men treated for cancer of the penis by a single institution have shown that treatment with brachytherapy (a type of radiotherapy) is a good option that can be used instead of surgery in many cases. The study was presented at the ESTRO 36 conference and is important […]
Watching movies can replace general anaesthesia for children with cancer having radiotherapy
Vienna, Austria: Children with cancer could be spared dozens of doses of general anaesthesia by projecting a video directly on to the inside of a radiotherapy machine during treatment, according to research presented at the ESTRO 36 conference. Although cancer is rare in children, worldwide there are approximately 215,000 new cases in the under 15s […]
Study suggests a role for radiotherapy for extending the lives of pancreatic cancer patients
Vienna, Austria: Patients with early stage pancreatic cancer could be given longer to live if they receive radiotherapy at a high enough dose, according to research presented at the ESTRO 36 conference. Pancreatic cancer already affects around 338,000 people worldwide annually and this figure is increasing [1]. It is notoriously difficult to treat and consequently […]
Giving a single, high dose of radiation directly to the site of a prostate tumour is safe and results in high patient satisfaction
Vienna, Austria: Doctors have found that treating prostate cancer with a single, high dose of radiation delivered precisely to the site of the tumour results in good quality of life and fewer trips to the hospital, with adverse side effects that are no worse than if the radiation treatment had been given in several lower […]
Adaptive radiotherapy reduces pneumonitis while controlling lung cancer
Vienna, Austria: Lung cancer patients who are treated with radiotherapy can develop an inflammation of the lung tissue called pneumonitis; this can limit the dose of radiation they can receive and severe forms of pneumonitis, if left untreated, can be fatal. Now researchers have found that it is possible to adapt radiation treatment so that […]
ESTRO announces GIRO: a project to save one million lives in under twenty years
Vienna, Austria: Although radiation therapy is an essential part of modern cancer treatment, and is indicated for about half of all new cancer patients, facilities for its provision are sadly lacking in many countries worldwide. Indeed, 29 out of 52 African nations have no radiotherapy facilities whatsoever. At the ESTRO 36 conference leaders of the […]
Cervical cancer survivors frequently suffer from long-term fatigue, insomnia and hot flushes
Vienna Austria: Around half of women who have been treated for locally advanced cervical cancer suffer from symptoms of insomnia, fatigue or hot flushes at some point, according to new research presented at the ESTRO 36 conference. Cervical cancer affects more than 500,000 women around the world each year [1], with an average age at […]
England’s Cancer Drugs Fund ‘failed to deliver meaningful value to patients and society’
Analysis of the drugs that were approved for use by the NHS Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) in England has shown that the fund was not good value for patients and society and may have resulted in patients suffering unnecessarily from toxic side effects of the drugs. In a study published in the leading cancer journal […]