Re: Transplant Drug Could Aid Radiation Therapy Treatment

["JOHN JACOBUS" <JENDAY1@MSN.COM>]

Jaro,

Have you heard what the long-term success rate is for BNCT treatment of

glioblastoma?  To me, cancer treatments must be evaluated on increase in

life expectancy and quality of life.  For example, in the news release you

provide below, the followup has only been two years.  Also, they only cite

radiation therapy following lumpectomies, not radical or modified radical

surgeries.

-- John

John Jacobus, MS

Certified Health Physicist

3050 Traymore Lane Bowie,

MD 20715-2024



jenday1@msn.com(H)



----- Original Message -----

From: "Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@aecl.ca>

To: "'JOHN JACOBUS'" <JENDAY1@MSN.COM>; "radsafe-digest"

<radsafe-digest@list.vanderbilt.edu>

Sent: Friday, November 29, 2002 4:12 PM

Subject: RE: Transplant Drug Could Aid Radiation Therapy Treatment





> From what I heard previously, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is essentially

> untreatable, except by BNCT (Boron-Neutron Capture Therapy), and this

> treatment usually involves a single, or at most two therapeutic doses

(this

> being one of BNCT's claimed advantages).

> This article seems to suggest application to more standard type of gamma

> radiation therapy, which is not suitable to GBM, but might well be to

other

> types of cancer.

> Moreover, as a previously posted article (below) suggests, even for

standard

> type of gamma radiation therapy, the trend is towards reducing the number

of

> doses, possibly to a single dose.

>

> Jaro

> ====================

>

> Stanford Trial Studies Vastly Shorter Radiation Time for Breast Cancer

> Treatment

>

> STANFORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 20, 2002--A new radiation

> approach being tested at Stanford University Medical Center could

> shorten the overall treatment time for women with breast cancer.

> Participants will receive a single dose of radiation at the time of

> surgery rather than the usual six-week course of radiation therapy.

> The clinical trial is now recruiting patients.

>

> "The trial should tell us whether this accelerated form of

> radiotherapy is safe, feasible and effective in controlling cancer

> recurrence in the breast for certain women who have a lumpectomy,"

> said Frederick Dirbas, MD, assistant professor of surgical oncology

> at the Stanford School of Medicine and leader of the trial.

>

> Women with a breast tumor often have a lumpectomy, surgery in which

> the doctor removes only the cancerous region, leaving the rest of the

> breast intact. The patient then receives a dose of radiation to the

> entire breast each weekday for about the next six weeks to minimize

> the risk of cancer returning.

>

> "The fact that current radiation treatments occur every day for

> several weeks makes it an issue for women," Dirbas said, adding that

> the schedule can be inconvenient for women who work, care for young

> children or live far from the treatment site. He said the idea

> behind this prolonged schedule was that women would experience fewer

> side effects if the total radiation dose was broken into smaller

increments.

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