Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States, responsible for more than 140,000 deaths in some of the most recent data.¹ When treating stroke patients, perhaps more than any other condition, time is of the essence.

Nearly every job in the country is subject to certain health and safety regulations. Construction workers must wear hard hats and steel-toed boots on the jobsite. Offices have to display emergency exit signage and mount fire extinguishers. Restaurant employees are required to wash hands often and comply with food safety specifications.

The Alliance for Proton Therapy Access (APTA) released a national report in late May revealing the heavy emotional and financial burden that many cancer patients endure when trying to get their insurer’s approval for physician-recommended proton radiation therapy. The report — “Cancer Care Denied: The Broken State of Patient Access to Proton Therapy” — calls on insurance commissioners in all 50 states to adopt and enforce the principles of a Cancer Patients’ Timely Treatment Bill of Rights and hold insurers accountable for providing fair, timely and transparent access to cancer treatment.

A new software developed and recently tested at the MD Anderson Cancer Center demonstrated the ability to largely automate the entire workflow of radiotherapy treatment planning. Such a system may offer a solution to a looming shortage of qualified radiation oncology professionals identified by the research team.