Patients receiving radiotherapy (RT) for cancers in the pelvic region can experience diarrhea, a negative side effect of radiation treatment. Sulfasalazine, an oral tablet used to treat inflammation of the bowels, had been shown in a past trial of 31 patients to decrease diarrhea during pelvic RT. Sulfasalazine does not reduce diarrhea, according to research presented today at the American Society of Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO’s) 55th Annual Meeting. The study also determined that the medication might be associated with a higher risk of diarrhea than placebo.

Reporting is one of the areas in medical imaging informatics that has advanced the most in recent years. With much of the imaging workflow now digitized and carried out through second-, if not third-generation image and information management systems such as picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) or radiology information systems (RIS), the ”third pillar” of the end-to-end digital imaging workflow has grown less isolated and more influential than ever before — signaling the advent of true voice-enabled and speech-driven radiology reporting.

Since opening in September 2011, the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center has become a premier regional center for cancer patients in the greater Phoenix area. With some of the latest state-of-the-art technology in place, the Gilbert, Ariz., facility prides itself on offering patients the same level of care that they would receive at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. “The philosophy is to treat patients with the same protocols and philosophy that they would get as if they went to Houston,” said Stephen Sapareto, Ph.D., DABR, director of medical physics, division of radiation oncology, Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The addition of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and spectroscopy to positron emission tomography (PET) is more expensive and more technically challenging compared with PET/computed tomography (CT). PET/CT is successful because the inclusion of CT has major advantages: accurate lesion localization, the identification of non-PET avid lesions and effective attenuation correction in a rapid, efficient combined examination. The addition of CT is particularly valuable for lungs and liver, where fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET is limited by spatial resolution and relatively low target-to-background differential biodistribution. Presumably, PET/MR may disclose unique important diagnostic and prognostic information in selected patient groups.