Research News
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Brachytherapy Use Increases, Researchers Concerned About Lack of Evidence
A new study found that use of brachytherapy (internal radiation therapy) has been increasing steadily since 2002 even though there aren't many long-term studies that show brachytherapy works as well as traditional radiation therapy.
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Radiation Therapy During, After Surgery Offer Same Cosmetic Results
Early results show that intraoperative radiation therapy and traditional external beam radiation therapy offer similar cosmetic results.
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Higher Risk of Local Recurrence with Partial-Breast Irradiation
Research comparing partial-breast irradiation to whole-breast irradiation found no differences in survival or the risk of the cancer spreading to other parts of the body; still, there was a difference in the risk of the cancer coming back in the same breast or the lymph nodes near the same breast.
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Reconstruction with Implant Immediately After Mastectomy Affected More by Radiation
A small study suggests that reconstruction done immediately after mastectomy using tissue from the body offers better results after radiation compared to immediate reconstruction using implants.
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Efaproxiral Doesn’t Improve Radiation Benefits Against Metastatic Breast Cancer in Brain
New research suggests that the experimental medicine Efaproxyn (chemical name: efaproxiral) doesn't improve the benefits of radiation therapy to the brain to treat breast cancer that has spread there.
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Lower-Dose Radiation Seems OK After Lumpectomy
Women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer with no lymph node involvement who got a lower dose of radiation for a shorter time after lumpectomy had the same outcome as women who got standard radiation therapy (a higher dose for a longer time).
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Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy Can Mean Fewer Skin Issues
Women who received radiation therapy using a special technique known as intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), were 17% less likely to develop scaling or peeling skin in the area exposed to radiation compared to women who got radiation therapy using traditional techniques.
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Less Frequent, Higher Dose Radiation Therapy Seems Just as Good as Traditional Regimen
New research shows that a shorter, but more intensive, course of radiation therapy may be just as effective as current treatment plans for women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer.
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Surgeon Characteristics Affects Whether Women Get Radiation After Lumpectomy
Surgeons' characteristics seem to affect whether women receive radiation therapy after lumpectomy.
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Smoking During Breast Cancer Radiation Therapy Increases Risk of Lung Cancer
A new study shows that women who smoked and got radiation therapy to treat breast cancer had a much higher risk of lung cancer later on compared to women who got radiation and didn't smoke.
