Early-stage breast cancer patients who receive external beam therapy (XRT) are not at higher risk for serious long-term side effects in the chest area, including increase in deaths from cardiac disease and secondary malignancies, according to research presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO’s) 55th Annual Meeting.

In an effort to guide regulation of mobile medical apps, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final guidance document for developers of mobile medical apps.

When used to treat pediatric patients with intracranial malignant tumors, proton therapy may limit the toxicity of radiation therapy while preserving tumor control, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO’s) 55th Annual Meeting.

Adding the chemotherapy drug cisplatin to a treatment plan of radiation therapy (RT) and high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDRB) for stage IIIB cervical cancer is beneficial, according to research presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO’s) 55th Annual Meeting. The study also indicated that the combined treatments produced acceptable levels of toxicity.

An analysis of quality of life (QOL) data of stage III lung cancer patients who received higher doses of radiation therapy (with chemotherapy) shows a significantly lower quality of life at 3 months after treatment compared to patients who received a standard dose of radiation (with chemotherapy), according to research presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO’s) 55th Annual Meeting. The study also suggests that lung cancer patients who received intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) reported less decline in their QOL compared to those receiving three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3-D CRT).