Radiotherapy 2021

High-grade gliomas, or brain tumors, in dogs have more immune cells involved with suppressing immune response than low-grade gliomas, according to a new study. The study adds to the growing body of evidence that these brain tumors may recruit cells that aid in immunosuppression. The findings could impact future immunotherapy-based glioma treatments in people and dogs. Glial cells are little support cells that can be found all across the brain and spinal cord. The tumor that results when those cells become malignant is known as glioma. Gliomas are the second most prevalent kind of central nervous system tumour in dogs, accounting for around 35% of all intracranial cancers. The typical survival period for dogs with glioma treated with radiation therapy is nine to fourteen months, which is comparable to the 14-month median survival time for humans treated with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Gliomas in dogs are classified as an oligodendroglioma, astrocytoma, or undefined glioma. Ba

The way many types of cancer are treated has changed dramatically during the last two decades. Specific proteins in cancer cells that enable them to grow, divide, and spread are shut down by targeted therapy. Immunotherapies work by stimulating or suppressing the immune system to assist the body fight cancer. However, for most tumors, tried-and-true treatments like surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy remain the gold standard. More than a century ago, radiation therapy was utilized to treat cancer for the first time. It is still given to about half of all cancer patients at some time throughout their treatment. And, until recently, the majority of radiation therapy was delivered in the same way it was 100 years ago: beams of radiation were delivered from outside the body to destroy cancers inside the body. External radiation, while beneficial, can potentially cause collateral damage. “You have to [strike] normal tissue to get to a tumour,” said Charles Kunos, M.D., Ph.D., of th

In June, nearly 100 experts gathered on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus in Bethesda, MD, to discuss a crucial but underestimated side effect of various cancer treatments: heart issues. Certain cancer treatments have the potential to harm the heart and circulatory system. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy, as well as newer forms of cancer treatment such targeted treatments and immunotherapies, can cause or exacerbate these adverse effects, which include high blood pressure, irregular cardiac rhythms, and heart failure.                                              At the meeting, Saro Armenian, D.O., M.P.H., noted, "Cancer medicines affect a lot of organs and organ systems, including the heart." Dr. Armenian, who treats children with cancer at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, explained that if a patient has cardiac side effects during treatment, a doctor may adjust the therapy's dose or discontinue it entirely. However, certain cardiac side effects