Briefly: Randomized research found that radiation treatment to the entire brain after surgery for tumors that had spread to the brain didn’t improve either survival or the time that patients remained able to function independently.  Mice with muscle wasting and fat loss from cancer benefited from a commonly used diabetes drug.

In other headlines, Katie Couric received an award from Fordham University and called her work with colorectal cancer awareness “her greatest achievement.”  A panel at the FDA has recommended approval of a new formulation of OxyContin that is less easy to tamper with. Online registration for the October 4th Strides for Life Walk/Run closes on October 1. Read the rest of this entry »

2008 ASTRO Annual Meeting

Patients whose cancers have spread to the brain experience more learning and memory problems when radiation to their whole brain follows more targeted radiotherapy.

Study results presented at the 2008 American Society for Radiation Therapy and Oncology annual meeting in Boston found that whole brain radiation after radiosurgery doubled the risk of cognitive problems. Read the rest of this entry »