Health News
A study at the University of Louisville James Graham Brown Cancer Center designed to make radiation treatment more accessible to women who face obstacles such as distance, transportation problems and time constraints is proving promising. The idea is to cut daily trips to the cancer center to once a week, says Dr. Anthony Dragon, a radiation oncologist at U of L. It also has the added benefit of cutting treatment costs by better than half.
Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal in Louisville reports that Dragun led a previous study that found that "about a third of Kentucky women with early-stage breast cancer didn?t get recommended radiation treatments after lumpectomy surgery. Among those least likely to get radiation were rural Kentuckians, the elderly, African Americans and women in the Appalachian region of the state. Women who did not get recommended radiation were 60 percent more likely to die during the time they were studied."
Dragun told Ungar that the folks at U of L were not satisfied with just gathering those numbers, they wanted solutions to the problem. Dragun said the new experimental regimen is yielding good results, with women who get weekly radiation reporting similar levels of side effects as those getting radiation every day. Ungar notes that some outside experts say the approach does seems promising, but one critic was concerned about breast appearance results after the once-a-week treatments.
According the National Cancer Institute, more than 3,070 new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed in Kentucky in 2009 and was responsible for 614 deaths. (Read more)
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A Louisville cancer center features a giant banner that says: "FIGHT CANCER WITH 5 or FEWER TREATMENTS." The treatment, called CyberKnife and performed at the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, is a procedure that directs large doses of radiation accurately...
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by Holly Hosler Although breast cancer incidence is declining in the U.S. overall, it is actually increasing among residents of Baltimore city and Baltimore County, says Dawn Leonard, M.D., presenter at last week?s Alvin & Lois Lapidus Cancer Institute...
- Cases Of Breast Cancer Among Younger Women Rising
By Deb Kirkland, RN, BSN, MPH Nurse Navigator, Herman & Walter Samuelson Breast Center at Northwest Hospital This year over 200,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and of those 11,000 will be under the age of 40. This...
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Breast surgeon Dawn Johnson Leonard, M.D., pictured here with Northwest Hospital President Erik Wexler, is the new medical director of the Herman & Walter Samuelson Breast Care Center at Northwest Hospital. Dr. Leonard is a fellowship-trained breast...
Health News
Experimental concentrated breast cancer radiation therapy offers new options for women who live far away from treatment facilities
A study at the University of Louisville James Graham Brown Cancer Center designed to make radiation treatment more accessible to women who face obstacles such as distance, transportation problems and time constraints is proving promising. The idea is to cut daily trips to the cancer center to once a week, says Dr. Anthony Dragon, a radiation oncologist at U of L. It also has the added benefit of cutting treatment costs by better than half.
Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal in Louisville reports that Dragun led a previous study that found that "about a third of Kentucky women with early-stage breast cancer didn?t get recommended radiation treatments after lumpectomy surgery. Among those least likely to get radiation were rural Kentuckians, the elderly, African Americans and women in the Appalachian region of the state. Women who did not get recommended radiation were 60 percent more likely to die during the time they were studied."
Dragun told Ungar that the folks at U of L were not satisfied with just gathering those numbers, they wanted solutions to the problem. Dragun said the new experimental regimen is yielding good results, with women who get weekly radiation reporting similar levels of side effects as those getting radiation every day. Ungar notes that some outside experts say the approach does seems promising, but one critic was concerned about breast appearance results after the once-a-week treatments.
According the National Cancer Institute, more than 3,070 new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed in Kentucky in 2009 and was responsible for 614 deaths. (Read more)
- Kentuckyone Health Turns Down Ethics Panel's Request To Remove Or Change Cancer Treatment Banner Advertisement
A Louisville cancer center features a giant banner that says: "FIGHT CANCER WITH 5 or FEWER TREATMENTS." The treatment, called CyberKnife and performed at the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, is a procedure that directs large doses of radiation accurately...
- Breast Cancer Treatments Discussed In Teleconference
by Holly Hosler To learn about the latest research on treatments for breast cancer, a group of 25 LifeBridge Health doctors, nurses and technicians joined over 675 others around the country for the Living Beyond Breast Cancer?s San Antonio Breast Cancer...
- Breast Surgeon Talks About Therapies; New Trends
by Holly Hosler Although breast cancer incidence is declining in the U.S. overall, it is actually increasing among residents of Baltimore city and Baltimore County, says Dawn Leonard, M.D., presenter at last week?s Alvin & Lois Lapidus Cancer Institute...
- Cases Of Breast Cancer Among Younger Women Rising
By Deb Kirkland, RN, BSN, MPH Nurse Navigator, Herman & Walter Samuelson Breast Center at Northwest Hospital This year over 200,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and of those 11,000 will be under the age of 40. This...
- Breast Care Center Medical Director Begins At Northwest
Breast surgeon Dawn Johnson Leonard, M.D., pictured here with Northwest Hospital President Erik Wexler, is the new medical director of the Herman & Walter Samuelson Breast Care Center at Northwest Hospital. Dr. Leonard is a fellowship-trained breast...