Author Interviews, Prostate Cancer, Radiation Therapy / 26.10.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Luca Incrocci, MD, PhD Department of Radiation Oncology Erasmus MC-Daniel den Hoed Cancer Rotterdam, The Netherlands  Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr.Incrocci: The trial was designed in 2005-2006. The rationale was to reduce the number of fractions and therefore increase patient's comfort. At that moment some preliminary data was available on the sensitivity of prostate cancer cells to a higher does per fraction. Our calculations brought us to choose this new fractionation schedule. The hypofractionation arm (19x3.4 Gy/3 times per week) has shown equivalence in outcome compared to the conventional treatment (39x2 Gy/5 times per week) at a follow-up of 5 yrs. Toxicity is comparable, with a slight increase in bowel complaints at 5yrs. Patients will be followed-up to 10yrs. (more…)
Author Interviews, Radiation Therapy, Supplements / 21.10.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Nicholas G. Zaorsky MD Resident Physician, Radiation Oncology Fox Chase Cancer Center Medical Research: What was the motivation for your studies? Dr. Zaorsky: Men often walk down grocery store aisles and see bottles of pills labeled “men’s health” or “prostate health.” We call these pills “men’s health supplements.” Our goal is to determine what effect (if any) these pills have on the cancer that men are most commonly diagnosed with – that is, prostate cancer. Medical Research: What is the significance of these findings in simple terms? What are the implications for human health? What would you hope a general audience might take away from these findings? Dr. Zaorsky:  Men with prostate cancer commonly use these pills because of the high incidence of prostate cancer (about 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with the disease), the stress associated with the diagnosis, the desire to benefit from all potential treatments, and the limited regulation on marketing and sale of the supplements.  Many men believe the supplements will help their cancer or (at worst) do nothing – so what’s the harm?  We found that men’s health supplements have no effect on curing prostate cancer treated with radiation therapy (a common treatment option). Men who took these pills also had no difference in their side effects during or after treatment.  Although we did not see a change in side effects, there have been thousands of cases in the US where supplements have harmed patients. (more…)