August 11, 2011 -- The New England Journal of Medicine's recent publication of the landmark National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), along with two congressional initiatives and an industry report, herald a much brighter future for lung cancer patients.

August 11, 2011 – At Mumbai, India's Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research & Education in Cancer (ACTREC), neurosurgeons have employed Elekta SonoWand Invite in 15 patients with brain tumors since the center acquired the system in July. The integration of sophisticated intra-operative 3-D ultrasound and navigation technology in SonoWand provides both the optimal path to the tumor and –– with 3-D ultrasound –– ongoing images of the operative site, enabling the surgeon to safely remove all visible traces of the tumor.

August 11, 2011— Computed tomography (CT) scans performed in the emergency department, which increased 330 percent between 1996 and 2007, may be reducing the frequency of hospitalization or transfer for emergency patients, according to a study published online in Annals of Emergency Medicine. The accompanying editorial notes that the reduction in hospitalizations is a beneficial result for both patients and the healthcare system (“National Trends in Use of Computed Tomography in the Emergency Department” and “The Hunting of the Snark”).

August 10, 2011 — Due to changing guidelines concerning when and how often they should first be screened for breast cancer with mammograms, many women are confused. The American Cancer Society (ACS) recommends women 40 years and older get a mammogram every year; the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends mammograms every other year for women older than 50. A University of Missouri (MU) researcher says doctors and patients should communicate better about individual patients’ timing of breast cancer screenings.

August 10, 2011 – Zotec Partners a provider of medical billing, practice management and Radiology Information Systems (RIS) software and services, announced that Medical Center Radiologists (MCR) out of Norfolk, Va., signed a five-year contract extension with the company to continue as its billing services provider. Since 2007, MCR has relied on Zotec Partners to combat rising costs and declining reimbursement, and has increased collections year-over-year.