Milan, Italy: A single high dose of radiation that can be delivered directly to the tumour within a few minutes is a safe and effective technique for treating men with low risk prostate cancer, according to a study presented at the ESTRO 38 conference. Radiotherapy traditionally involves a series of lower dose treatments that take […]
Radiotherapy after chemotherapy may improve survival for patients with advanced Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Milan, Italy: Patients with advanced Hodgkin’s lymphoma who have large tumours at the time of diagnosis may benefit from radiotherapy after chemotherapy even when all traces of the cancer appear to have gone, according to late breaking results presented at the ESTRO 38 conference. Approximately 65-70% of patients with advanced stage Hodgkin’s lymphoma can be […]
Early, hormone-driven breast cancer is less likely to recur if treated with radiotherapy: results from ten years of follow-up
Milan, Italy: Women with early, low risk, hormone-driven breast cancer are less likely to have a recurrence of their disease if they have radiotherapy after surgery, as well as anti-hormone treatment, according to results from a trial that has followed 869 women for ten years. New findings from the 8A trial of the Austrian Breast […]
Antibiotic use linked to greater risk of heart attack and stroke in women
Women who take antibiotics over a long period of time are at increased risk of heart attack or stroke, according to research carried out in nearly 36,500 women. The study, published in the European Heart Journal [1], found that women aged 60 or older who took antibiotics for two months or more had the greatest […]
Researchers develop new method to detect cancerous DNA in lung cancer patients’ blood: an advance in liquid biopsies
A new method of determining the sequence of molecules in DNA can be used to detect small fragments of cancerous genetic material in blood samples from lung cancer patients with a high degree of accuracy, according to new research published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology [1]. Results from analyses of so-called “liquid […]
Overall death rates from breast cancer fall in the EU, but rise in Poland. Researchers predict 1.4 million deaths from all cancers in 2019
Death rates from breast cancer are predicted to fall in all European Union (EU) countries in 2019 with the exception of Poland, according to new research published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology [1]. In their annual predictions for cancer deaths in the EU, Carlo La Vecchia (MD), Professor at the School of […]
Large study suggests painkillers taken during pregnancy are not a cause of asthma in children
A study of almost 500,000 women indicates that taking paracetamol or other painkillers during pregnancy is not responsible for increasing the risk of asthma in children. The research, which uses prescription data on painkillers, does support earlier findings that women taking paracetamol during pregnancy are more likely to have children who develop asthma. However, it […]
Infertility is linked to small increased risk of cancer
A study of over 64,000 women of childbearing age in the USA has found that infertility is associated with a higher risk of developing cancer compared to a group of over three million women without fertility problems, although the absolute risk is very low at just 2%. As cancer is unusual in pre-menopausal women, the […]
Air pollution causes 800,000 extra deaths a year in Europe and 8.8 million worldwide
Air pollution could be causing double the number of excess deaths a year in Europe than has been estimated previously, according to a study published in the European Heart Journal [1]. Using a new method of modelling the effects of various sources of outdoor air pollution on death rates, the researchers found that it caused […]
Smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity each linked to unhealthy brains
Factors that influence the health of our blood vessels, such as smoking, high blood and pulse pressures, obesity and diabetes, are linked to less healthy brains, according to research published in the European Heart Journal [1]. The study examined the associations between seven vascular risk factors and differences in the structures of parts of the […]