Topic

Radiation Therapy


Cancer: Initial prostate cancer treatment decisions affect long-term costs

Clinical Studies | Wednesday, September 01 2010
The cost patterns of prostate cancer treatment can vary widely based on initial treatment choice, and treatments that may be less expensive in the short-term may have higher long-term costs, according to a study published online Aug. 23 in Cancer.
 

TomoTherapy to install treatment system in China

Contracts & Installations | Thursday, August 26 2010
General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command of PLA in Guangzhou, China, has purchased TomoTherapy’s radiation therapy system for the treatment of head and neck cancers.
 

Orbital granted patent for self-shielded radiotherapy technology

Regulatory News | Thursday, August 05 2010
Breast cancer device developer Orbital Therapy has received a U.S. patent for a self-shielded radiotherapy device, which does not require a traditional vault for operation.
 

Medrad inks distribution deal with Pennsylvania radiotherapy company

Partnerships & Alliances | Tuesday, August 03 2010
Medrad, a subsidiary of Bayer HealthCare, has signed a distribution agreement with Avondale, Pa.-based radiation therapy provider WFR-AquaPlast/Qfix Systems, for the company’s Pro-Tekt endorectal balloon device.
 

Cedars-Sinai cancer institute to utilize tumor tracking system

Contracts & Installations | Thursday, July 29 2010
The Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles has employed a tumor monitoring system from Calypso Medical Technologies, which is approved for use in radiation therapy for prostate cancer patients.
 

Alliance Oncology expands into Arkansas with rad onc group

Mergers & Acquisitions | Thursday, July 29 2010
Alliance Oncology, a division of Alliance HealthCare Services, has completed its acquisition of Little Rock, Ark.-based Arkansas Cancer Institute's radiation oncology unit via mergers and acquisitions firm, the Woodbridge Group.
 

Brainlab releases new rad therapy add-on

New Products | Monday, July 26 2010
Brainlab released its ExacTrac Infrared Monitoring, an add-on device to existing treatment machines for monitoring patient positioning during radiation therapy treatments, at the American Association of Physicists in Medicine annual meeting last week in Philadelphia.
 

ASRT, Siemens dole out rad scholarships

Industry News | Monday, July 26 2010
The American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) Education and Research Foundation has announced the 2010 Siemens Clinical Advancement Scholarship recipients.
 

AAPM: Lung SBRT spares normal tissue

Friday, July 23 2010
PHILADELPHIA—Lung cancer patients treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) experienced few lasting side effects, indicating the technique adequately spares normal tissue, according to a six-year study presented July 19 at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM).
 

Top 25 Connected Facilities: The Refining of Radiology

Cover Story | Friday, July 23 2010
Written by Lisa Fratt
This year’s Top 25 Connected Facilities are an impressive group that has extended the reach of images from PACS to the EMR, either via links to key images or full image sets. Many extend PACS and EMR access to referring physicians and share data with a health information exchange (HIE) internally and/or externally. They are reaping across-the-board benefits—accelerating and improving patient care with anytime/anywhere access to patient data, virtual subspecialty interpretation and razor-thin report turn-around times that hover near 15 minutes for STAT studies. They are cutting costs, increasing productivity and fueling growth.
 

Lancet: Pediatric rad therapy in women raises risk of later stillbirth, neonatal death

Top Stories | Thursday, July 22 2010
Women exposed to uterine and ovarian radiation therapy during childhood reported a higher incidence of stillbirth and neonatal death, according to a study published in Lancet online on July 23.
 

ASRT, Elekta announce 2010 radiation therapy scholarship winners

Industry News | Wednesday, July 21 2010
The American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) Education and Research Foundation and Stockholm-based clinical oncology and neurosurgery provider Elekta have announced this year’s Elekta Radiation Therapy Educators Scholarship recipients.
 

AAPM: Video game processors help reduce CT rad dose

Conference News | Wednesday, July 21 2010
A reconstruction algorithm based on graphic processing unit platforms originally designed for 3D video games could yield a 10-fold reduction in the amount of radiation patients receive during cone beam CT scans, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) on July 21.
 

Illinois hospital opens new cancer center

Industry News | Tuesday, July 20 2010
Central DuPage Hospital (CDH) has opened a new cancer facility in Warrenville, Ill. After all equipment is installed, CDH Cancer Center and Proton Center will treat an estimated 40,000 patients annually.
 

AAPM: Cancer survivor says ‘thanks’ to medical physicists, oncologists

Conference News | Tuesday, July 20 2010
Written by Chris Kaiser
PHILADELPHIA—Six years ago, Jim Donnelly was told the cancer on his tongue and larynx needed to be surgically removed. Not accepting that opinion, Donnelly, a professor of business at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, decided to go to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. As was evident by the standing ovation following his address at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), Donnelly has not lost his ability to speak, nor his sense of humor.
 

TomoTherapy delivers rad therapy to U.K. patients

Contracts & Installations | Monday, July 19 2010
James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, England has begun treating cancer patients via the TomoTherapy HiArt treatment system from radiation therapy provider TomoTherapy.
 

Breast MRI: Looking Beyond High-risk Screening

Features | Monday, July 19 2010
Written by Gina Narcisi
Three years ago, the American Cancer Society (ACS) updated breast cancer screening guidelines for high-risk and dense-breasted, pre-menopausal women, recommending that this subset of patients undergo breast MRI in addition to annual screening mammograms.
 

Study: Chemo+radiation therapy reduces cancer-specific deaths

Clinical Studies | Thursday, July 15 2010
Adding concurrent-adjuvant chemotherapy to radiation therapy can reduce cancer-specific deaths, but increases acute toxicity for nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients, according to a study published online July 15 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
 

Study: Nomogram predicts breast cancer recurrence

Clinical Studies | Thursday, July 15 2010
A ductal carcinoma in situ nomogram that provides an individualized risk estimate of recurrence after breast-conserving surgery can help inform treatment decisions and reduce over-and undertreatment of noninvasive breast cancer, according to a study published July 12 online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
 

JACR: Proton therapy could raise treatment costs 20%

Top Stories | Tuesday, July 13 2010
Approximately one-third of patients irradiated annually can be treated with proton therapy, which would result in a 20 percent increase in costs across the entire cancer patient population, according to a study published in the July edition of Journal of the American College of Radiology.
 
Web Exclusives

Feature: U.S. needs national strategy to curb imaging overutilization

Medical imaging overutilization--a growing concern in the U.S.--exposes patients to unnecessary radiation, while also adding to rising healthcare costs, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in Radiology. In an interview, William R. Hendee, PhD, lead author, reviewed various methods by which medical imaging could be curtailed.

Radiology: Prelim study shows CE breast CT outperforms CT, mammo

Dedicated contrast-enhanced (CE) breast CT delivered significantly improved conspicuity of malignant breast lesions, including ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), compared with unenhanced breast CT and mammography, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology.

Radiology: Rad role may evolve as image-guided biopsies trend up

CT, ultrasound and MRI have helped shift biopsy techniques away from more invasive approaches toward image-guided percutaneous techniques, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology. The trend toward less-invasive approaches translates into enhanced safety and efficiency and could lead to more interaction between patients and radiologists.

CMS Webinar: Incentive payments to offset EHR adoption, not reimburse

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) EHR incentive payments are not considered reimbursement for money expended on EHR technology, but are intended to offset the cost associated with adoption and ongoing meaningful use, according to CMS during an Aug. 12 webinar.

CMS webinar: Eligible professionals can expect EHR incentives in 2011

Funding incentives for EHR use is the main goal of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) meaningful use initiative, and there are incentive programs for both hospitals and eligible professionals, according to Elizabeth Holland, health insurance specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke during a CMS-sponsored webinar Aug. 8.

Webinar: Stage 1 of meaningful use is for quality reporting acclimation

Stage 1 requirements for meaningful use incentives aim to strike a balance between the overall goal of EHR use and widespread adoption, while avoiding added work, said Jonathan Teich, MD, PhD, chief medical informatics officer at Elsevier Health Services, during a HIMSS webinar titled “Meaningful Use: Safety and Quality of Care.”

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