Researchers have found that disconnections of brain areas involved in attention and visual processing may contribute to visual hallucinations in individuals with Parkinson’s disease, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology. The disconnected brain areas seen on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) may be valuable in predicting the development of visual hallucinations in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

September 27, 2017 — A new study finds Medicaid expansion enacted as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care ...

MedLever Inc. recently announced the launch of a comprehensive agreement with the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital (HKSH) to use the MedLever Platform to enable interoperability and streamline workflow for proton therapy delivery. MedLever and HKSH are working together to develop the information backbone to support the magnetic resonance (MR)-guided proton therapy solution being developed at HKSH. Additionally, MedLever will support the information management needs for conventional patient setup incorporating MR imaging. The solution will be first deployed in the conventional therapy department to enable simplified workflow, effective connectivity and data exchange among multiple systems.

September 26, 2017 — Patients at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center now have access to the latest in dynamic ...

Combining radiation therapy with chemotherapy for patients with limited metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may curb disease progression dramatically when compared to NSCLC patients who only receive chemotherapy, according to a new randomized phase II clinical trial reported at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), Sept. 24-27 in San Diego. Progression-free survival in the trial escalated from 3.5 months to 9.7 months with the addition of radiation therapy delivered to all the metastatic sites of lung cancer as well as the primary disease site. Treatment-related side effects were similar for the two treatment approaches.

A new survey finds breast cancer patients’ actual radiation therapy experiences largely exceeded their expectations. The survey, which addressed the fears and misconceptions regarding radiation therapy for breast cancer, found that more than three-fourths of the breast cancer patients surveyed found their experiences with radiation therapy, including overall and specific long-term and short-term side effects, to be less “scary” than anticipated, according to research presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), Sept. 24-27 in San Diego.

Long-term results of a phase III clinical trial indicate survival rates for patients receiving chemoradiation for unresectable, locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may be more than twice as high as previous estimates. At five years following treatment with a standard dose of 60 Gray (Gy) radiation delivered in 30 fractions, the overall survival rate was 32 percent, setting a new benchmark of survival for patients with inoperable stage III NSCLC. The trial, RTOG 0617, also confirms that a standard dose of radiation therapy is preferable to a higher dose and that cetuximab offers no additional survival benefit for these patients. Findings were presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), Sept. 24-27 in San Diego.

September 22, 2017 — Varian Medical Systems announced a patient at Penn Medicine, with head & neck cancer, became the ...