PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

1 out of 4 lung cancer patients in Andalusia does not receive the radiotherapy they need

2013-02-05
(Press-News.org) A study conducted by University of Granada and Virgen de las Nieves U.H. researchers has revealed that in Andalusian public hospitals radiotherapy is provided to lung cancer patients with a frequency 25 % below that established by clinical protocols. Failure to provide such treatment results in a total of 3,000 survival-day loss for all lung cancer patients.

To carry out this study –recently published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology–, the researchers reviewed the medical records and radiotherapy provided to all lung cancer patients in 2007 in the 12 Andalusian public hospitals fitted with radiotherapy facilities. Data were grouped by type of hospital, patient, type of treatment, histological type and tumor stage. This is very relevant, since other studies used aggregated data and interviews.

A Study with 3,051 Patients

Of the 3,051 lung cancer patients, 610 (radiation rate: 20 %) were initially treated with radiotherapy when according to the patients' medical histories, the number of patients treated with radiotherapy should have been 1,383. Thus, 773 lung cancer patients (25%) did not receive the radiotherapy they needed.

According to the University of Granada professor José Expósito Hernández, radiotherapy is "crucial to the treatment of lung cancer and, according to the literature available, the percentage of patients that "must" receive radiotherapy can be established by the tumor stage, the histological type and other considerations". The studies conducted by the Canadian professor Mackillop –with whom the University of Granada researchers have worked– estimate the benefits of radiotherapy for each patient in terms of survival months

This article analyzes by regression tests the variables that influence the decision to provide or not radiotherapy to a patient. "Such decision may be based both, on equipment deficiencies (radiotherapy units and specialists) and on the specialist's preferences", professor Hernandez states.

### References: Underuse of Radiotherapy in Lung Cancer Has Negative Consequences for Patients
Tovar, Isabel; Expósito, José; Jaén, Javier; Alonso, Enrique
Journal of Thoracic Oncology:
January 2013 - Volume 8 - Issue 1 - p 62
doi: 10.1097/JTO.0b013e3182745640 END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Seeing the software world from a dependency perspective

2013-02-05
Software development is a complex and difficult task. Software developers and researchers try to deal with software development in a simple way from multiple perspectives. This leads to the use of various kinds of models, including informal, semi-formal, and formal models, and all kinds of development methods, including informal and formal methods. In fact, every software development method contains multiple models from different perspectives. In contrast to an informal method, a formal method is considered to be a set of tools and notations (with formal semantics) used ...

Researchers use new molecular inhibitors to successfully hit difficult cancer target

2013-02-05
CINCINNATI – Early laboratory tests are the first to successfully use an experimental molecular therapy to block a hard-to-target part of a protein complex linked to several types of invasive cancer. Scientists report online Feb. 4 in PNAS Early Edition the rational design of a small-molecule inhibitor they call Y16. In laboratory tests, the inhibitor helped stop the spread of cultured human breast cancer cells, especially when it was used with another compound known as Rhosin/G04. The study was conducted by researchers in the Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute at ...

Exposure to pesticides in food, air and water increases risk of type 2 diabetes

2013-02-05
A study conducted at the University of Granada has revealed that there is a direct relationship between exposure to pesticides (Persistent Organic Pollutants, CPOs) in food, air and water and prevalence of type 2 diabetes in adults, regardless of age, gender and body mass index. These substances tend to concentrate in body fat, and they might be one of the reasons why obese people are more likely to develop diabetes, since the more fat the higher the COP concentrations in the body. In a paper recently published in the journal Environmental Research, researchers demonstrate ...

RNA promotes metastasis in lung cancer

2013-02-05
The vast majority – approximately 80 percent – of our DNA does not code for proteins, yet it gets transcribed into RNA. These RNA molecules are called non-coding and fulfill multiple tasks in the cell. Alongside a well-studied group of small RNAs, there is also a class of so-called long non-coding RNAs consisting of more than 200 nucleotides. Long non-coding RNAs regulate cellular processes such as cell cycle, growth and cell death. Therefore, it came as no surprise that many of these controlling molecules are linked to the progression of cancer. An example is the non-coding ...

Stroke damage in mice overcome by training that 'rewires' brain centers

2013-02-05
Johns Hopkins researchers have found that mice can recover from physically debilitating strokes that damage the primary motor cortex, the region of the brain that controls most movement in the body, if the rodents are quickly subjected to physical conditioning that rapidly "rewires" a different part of the brain to take over lost function. Their research, featuring precise, intense and early treatment, and tantalizing clues to the role of a specific brain area in stroke recovery, is described online in the journal Stroke. "Despite all of our approved therapies, stroke ...

Yale researchers spot attention deficits in babies who later develop autism

2013-02-05
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine are able to detect deficits in social attention in infants as young as six months of age who later develop Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Published in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry, the results showed that these infants paid less attention to people and their activities than typically developing babies. Katarzyna Chawarska, associate professor at the Yale Child Study Center, and her colleagues investigated whether six-month-old infants later diagnosed with ASD showed prodromal symptoms — early signs of ASD such as ...

New 'retention model' explains enigmatic ribbon at edge of solar system

2013-02-05
Since its October 2008 launch, NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) has provided images of the invisible interactions between our home in the galaxy and interstellar space. Particles emanating from this boundary produce a striking, narrow ribbon, which had yet to be explained despite more than a dozen possible theories. In a new "retention model," researchers from the University of New Hampshire and Southwest Research Institute suggest that charged particles trapped in this region create the ribbon as they escape as neutral atoms. The Sun continually sends out ...

Caring for dogs to reduce spread of parasite eggs harmful to humans

2013-02-05
The UK dog population is estimated to be around ten million, with dogs producing approximately 1,000 tonnes of excrement each day. New research has shown that dogs act as a major source of the parasite egg, Toxocara, which can potentially contaminate the public environment and infect humans. The aim of the study, led by Dr Eric Morgan and colleagues from the University of Bristol's School of Veterinary Sciences and published in the international scientific journal, Veterinary Parasitology, was to identify where efforts to control the parasite should focus, in the interests ...

Can you predict how a disease will spread in a population?

2013-02-05
How, when and where a pathogen is transmitted between two individuals in a population is crucial in understanding and predicting how a disease will spread. New research has laid the foundation for a new generation of zoonotic disease spreading models, which could allow for more targeted prevention strategies. By using novel complexity sciences tools the study, published in Physical Review Letters, outlines a predictive model of a spatial epidemic spread in a population of territorial animals. By quantifying the instances of transmission events, the research team, ...

Intense rain in the Ebro basin is becoming more and more uncommon

Intense rain in the Ebro basin is becoming more and more uncommon
2013-02-05
Researchers from CSIC's Aula Dei Experimental Station in Zaragoza, Spain have confirmed that the frequency of intense rainfall has been decreasing in the Ebro basin since 1955. Despite what it may seem, intense rain is becoming rarer in the Ebro basin according to two studies carried out by Spanish researchers from the Department of Soil and Water of CSIC's Aula Dei Experimental Station in Zaragoza. Their results have been published in the 'Journal of Hydrology' and the 'Hydrology and Earth System Sciences' journal. Santiago Beguería, one of the authors of both studies, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Heat and heavy metals are changing the way that bees buzz

What’s behind the enormous increase in early-onset gastrointestinal cancers?

Pharmacogenomics expert advances precision medicine for bipolar disorder

Brazilian researcher explores centenarian stem cells for aging insights

Dr. Xuyu Qian's breakthrough analysis of 18 million brain cells advances understanding of human brain development

Gene networks decode human brain architecture from health to glioma

How artificial light at night damages brain health and metabolism

For ultrasound, ultra-strength not always a good thing

Matching your workouts to your personality could make exercising more enjoyable and give you better results

Study shows people perceive biodiversity

Personality type can predict which forms of exercise people enjoy

People can accurately judge biodiversity through sight and sound

People diagnosed with dementia are living longer, global study shows

When domesticated rabbits go feral, new morphologies emerge

Rain events could cause major failure of Waikīkī storm drainage by 2050

Breakthrough in upconversion luminescence research: Uncovering the energy back transfer mechanism

Hidden role of 'cell protector' opens cancer treatment possibilities

How plants build the microbiome they need to survive in a tough environment

Depression due to politics and its quiet danger to democracy addressed in new book 'The Sad Citizen'

International experts and patients unite to help ensure all patients are fully informed before consenting to new surgical procedures

Melting glaciers could trigger more explosive eruptions globally, finds research

Nearly half of U.S. grandchildren live within 10 miles of a grandparent

Study demonstrates low-cost method to remove CO₂ from air using cold temperatures, common materials

Masonic Medical Research Institute (MMRI) welcomes 13 students to prestigious Summer Fellowship program

Mass timber could elevate hospital construction

A nuanced model of soil moisture illuminates plant behavior and climate patterns

$2.6 million NIH grant backs search for genetic cure in deadly heart disease

Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis program changed drastically when anxiety was added as a qualifying condition

1 in 5 overweight adults could be reclassified with obesity according to new framework

Findings of study on how illegally manufactured fentanyl enters U.S. contradict common assumptions, undermining efforts to control supply

[Press-News.org] 1 out of 4 lung cancer patients in Andalusia does not receive the radiotherapy they need