ASTRO's 41st Annual Meeting

Contact: Keri J. Sperry (703) 227-0156 [email protected]
Pager: (703) 515-5565
Home: (703) 803-0259

Cancer Care Now and in the New Millennium Will be the Focus of ASTRO's 41st Annual Meeting

Advances in radiation oncology means safer and more effective treatments for cancer patients. Newly developed techniques and procedures will be highlighted at the annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology which will be held October 31 - November 4 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, TX.

Topics of presentations include:

Breast Cancer

* Intensity modulated radiation therapy spares more of the heart and lung than standard radiation therapy for breast cancer patients (October 31)

* Delay in radiation treatments following lumpectomy increases risk of cancer recurrence (October 31)

* An analysis shows that radiation therapy following mastectomy is not only effective in terms of improving survival but cost effective as well (November 3)

Prostate Cancer

* Hormones plus radiation therapy equals increased survival for some prostate cancer patients (November 1)

* Intensity modulated radiation therapy allows radiation oncologists to safely use higher doses of radiation to treat prostate cancer (November 1)

* Prostate cancer patients treated with 3-D conformal radiation therapy are more likely to maintain their potency and less likely to suffer from bowel and bladder problems associated with cancer treatment (November 1)

* A new study indicates that radiation therapy and surgery are equally effective treatments of prostate cancer (November 3)

Lung Cancer

* A new drug (Amifostine) given to lung cancer patients before radiation therapy dramatically reduces the side effects of treatment (November 1)

Bladder Cancer

* Bladder cancer can be successfully treated with bladder conserving treatments (October 31)

Cervical Cancer

* Mitomycin C plus radiation therapy means increased survival of patients with advanced cervical cancer (November 3)

Head and Neck Cancer

* Chemotherapy plus radiation therapy allows patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer to keep their larynx (November 3)

Non Cancerous Tumors

* Radiosurgery preserves hearing and avoids damaging facial nerves of patients with acoustic neuromas (November 1)

New Technology

* The potential and pitfalls of conformal radiation therapy, a new technique that allows the radiation oncologists to "sculpt" the radiation treatments to the tumor (October 31)

Abstracts and additional information about the meeting are online at www.astro.org or can be obtained by calling Keri Sperry at (703) 227-0156.

The American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) is the largest radiation oncology society in the world, with more than 5,000 members. As a leading organization in radiation oncology, biology and physics, the society's goals are to advance the scientific base of radiation therapy and to extend the benefits of radiation therapy to those with cancer.

###