Is Radiation Therapy a Necessity for Breast Cancer?
Standard Treatment A standard treatment for early-stage breast cancer is to remove the tumor via lumpectomy and then follow that with radiation therapy and the drug, tamoxifen. But a report...
Radiation
Why Some Docs Give Too Frequent Radiation
Two Competing Forms of Radiation It is often claimed that decisions in oncology are made solely on the basis of the effectiveness of treatments. I cannot tell you how many times I have been...
Against the Double Standard: A Reply to the American Cancer Society (Part 1)
How does one judge the relative merits of cancer treatments? What are the standards by which a treatment is declared effective or ineffective? The American Cancer Society has an answer to this...
Against the Double Standard: A Reply to the ACS (Part 2)
American Cancer Society At their website (www.cancer.org), the American Cancer Society tries to differentiate between what it calls "proven" treatments and those it classifies as "quackery."...
Modified Fractionation Schemes
Hyperfractionation These are innovative schedules that adjust the time frame in which radiation is delivered to decrease the toxicity of treatment and increase the total amount of radiation...
Adjuvant Radiation for Rectal Cancer?
Adjuvant Radiation for Rectal Cancer? In the same issue of the Lancet there is a meta-analysis of adjuvant radiation therapy for rectal cancer (Lancet 2001;358:1291-1304}. The authors (from the...
Radiation Advocated After Surgery for Ductal Carcinoma
In an article appearing in the Lancet (July 12, 2003), scientists report that radiation therapy after surgery can reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrences in women with ductal carcinoma in...
Big Shift on Mammography
On November 16, 2009, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) revised its previous position and came out against annual screening mammograms. The new recommendations included the following...
Radiation May Cause Pelvic and Hip Fractures
Radiation to the Pelvis One University of Toronto study showed that radiation to the pelvis led to a substantial increase in hip fractures in older women. A few years later the same risk was seen...