Dear Radiation Oncology Insider,
For obese men, selecting a course of treatment for prostate cancer is a serious dilemma. Numerous clinical studies have documented that obese men with prostate cancer have worse outcomes than normal or slightly overweight men. Many theories abound as to the reason for this.
For our Insider Exclusive, we report on a newly suggested reason as to why external beam radiation therapy may not be as effective for obese men as it is for patients of normal weight. Dr. James Wong of Morristown Memorial Hospital has documented what he has suspected for years: that obese men have flabby skin and are prone to a larger degree of prostate gland shift.
While he doesn't refute the suggestion that there may also be a biochemical reason, Dr. Wong suggests that treatment without daily image guidance may be missing the target. You don't want to miss this article.
In another story featured in the Radiation Oncology Digital Community, a recent issue of Cancer aired public disagreement about the use of stereotactic body radiotherapy for pancreatic cancer patients. We report on this debate.
There's little debate any more about the benefit of radiation therapy for certain patients with breast cancer. So why did 19% of women eligible for this postmastectomy treatment not have it offered to them? Click here to learn more.
While AuntMinnie.com focuses its attention on clinical studies, we are always interested in learning about trends, procedures, costs and reimbursements, improvements, and efficiencies that might not qualify for peer review submission but would be of interest to our global readership. Feel free to send an e-mail to me at [email protected] and I'll be happy to respond.
