What is proton beam therapy?
Proton beam therapy has been discussed widely in the media in recent days.
This is due to the controversy surrounding the treatment of a young boy called Ashya King, who has medulloblastoma, a type of brain cancer.
Ashya was reportedly taken abroad by his parents to receive proton beam therapy.
But what does proton beam therapy involve, and can it treat cancer effectively?
How does proton beam therapy work?
Proton beam therapy is a type of radiotherapy.
Conventional radiotherapy uses high energy beams of radiation to destroy cancerous cells, but surrounding tissue can also be damaged. This can lead to side effect...
Source: NHS News Feed - September 3, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer QA articles Source Type: news
Repurposing anti-depressant medication to target medulloblastoma
A novel molecular pathway that causes an aggressive form of medulloblastoma has been identified by researchers. Now scientists suggest repurposing an anti-depressant medication to target medulloblastoma to help combat one of the most common brain cancers in children. The scientists say their laboratory findings in mouse models of the disease could lead to a more targeted and effective molecular therapy that would also reduce the harmful side effects of current treatments. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - August 24, 2014 Category: Science Source Type: news
Study suggests repurposing anti-depressant medication to target medulloblastoma
(Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center) An international research team reports in Nature Medicine a novel molecular pathway that causes an aggressive form of medulloblastoma, and suggests repurposing an anti-depressant medication to target the new pathway may help combat one of the most common brain cancers in children. The scientists say their laboratory findings in mouse models of the disease could lead to a more targeted and effective molecular therapy that would also reduce the harmful side effects of current treatments. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - August 24, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
Skye Hall, 5, who is battling brain tumour, wants to make world's longest loom band
Skye Hall, from Abingdon, was diagnosed with a medulloblastoma, an aggressive cancerous brain tumour a year ago. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - August 20, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Cancer by remote-control: Overlooked DNA shuffling drives deadly paediatric brain tumour
One of the deadliest forms of paediatric brain tumor, Group 3 medulloblastoma, is linked to a variety of large-scale DNA rearrangements which all have the same overall effect on specific genes located on different chromosomes. "We were surprised to see that in addition to MYC there are two other major drivers of Group 3 medulloblastoma -- two sister genes called GFI1B and GFI1," says Korbel. "Our findings could be relevant for research on other cancers, as we discovered that those genes had been activated in a way that cancer researchers don't usually look for in solid tumors," researchers remarked. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - June 23, 2014 Category: Science Source Type: news
Cancer genes hijack enhancers
(German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ)) Unlike most other forms of cancer, medulloblastomas exhibits very few mutations in growth-promoting genes. In collaboration with an international team of colleagues, scientists from the German Cancer Research Center have now made an important discovery about a particularly malignant subgroup of medulloblastomas: often the cancer-causing genes are transcribed at higher or lower levels than normal. This change is due to regulatory mechanisms that were previously unknown. For example, one cancer-gene hijacks a so-called 'enhancer.' (Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer)
Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer - June 23, 2014 Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: news
Cancer by remote-control
(European Molecular Biology Laboratory) One of the deadliest forms of paediatric brain tumour, Group 3 medulloblastoma, is linked to a variety of large-scale DNA rearrangements which all have the same overall effect on specific genes located on different chromosomes. The finding, by scientists at EMBL Heidelberg and collaborators, is published online today in Nature. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - June 22, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
Late Effects of Radiotherapy in Average Risk MedulloblastomaLate Effects of Radiotherapy in Average Risk Medulloblastoma
Find out about efficacy and safety for patients with average-risk pediatric medulloblastoma receiving tumor bed boost irradiation vs posterior fossa boost. Chinese Clinical Oncology (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Source: Medscape Today Headlines - June 11, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Hematology-Oncology Journal Article Source Type: news
Drugs Show Promise Against Aggressive Medulloblastoma Childhood Brain Tumor
A St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital-led study identified two adult cancer drugs with potential to improve treatment of a high-risk childhood brain tumor; the drugs are now part of a pediatric clinical trial. (Source: Disabled World)
Source: Disabled World - March 27, 2014 Category: Disability Tags: Clinical Trials Source Type: news
Adult cancer drugs show promise against an aggressive childhood brain tumor
The quest to improve survival of children with a high-risk brain tumor has investigators to two drugs already used to treat adults with breast, pancreatic, lung and other cancers. Researchers demonstrated that the drugs pemetrexed and gemcitabine killed cells from mouse and human brain tumors, called group 3 medulloblastoma, growing in the laboratory. Medulloblastoma is diagnosed in about 400 children annually in the U.S., making it the most common pediatric brain tumor. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - March 27, 2014 Category: Science Source Type: news
From Cork to Boston: Crossing the Atlantic to treat a brain tumor
By Irene Sege
Alisha, Michelle and John. Photo by Sam Ogden
Even in its most common form, childhood cancer is rare. Imagine then that the reason your 2-year-old daughter is vomiting and can’t hold her head straight is not a virus, as doctors originally suspected, but an incredibly rare brain tumor. This is precisely what John Savage and Michelle Long of Cork, Ireland, faced in November 2012, when their daughter Alisha Savage was diagnosed with Stage IV atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors.
On Jan. 24, 2014, the family arrived in Boston to have Alisha treated at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - March 19, 2014 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Guest Blogger Tags: All posts Atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (AT/RT) Brain Tumor Center Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center Mark Kieran our patients' stories Susan Chi Source Type: news
Researchers block cell division, induce cell death, and overcome tumor resistance to therapy
A new experimental approach to treating a type of brain cancer called medulloblastoma has been developed by researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham). The method targets cancer stem cells - the cells that are critical for maintaining tumor growth - and halts their ability to proliferate by inhibiting enzymes that are essential for tumor progression. The process destroys the ability of the cancer cells to grow and divide, paving the way for a new type of treatment for patients with this disease. The research team, led by Robert Wechsler-Reya, Ph.D... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)
Source: Health News from Medical News Today - September 27, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer / Oncology Source Type: news
New approach to treating human brain cancer could lead to improved outcomes
(Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute) A new approach to treating medulloblastoma has been developed by researchers at Sanford-Burnham. The method targets cancer stem cells--the cells that are critical for maintaining tumor growth--and halts their ability to proliferate by inhibiting enzymes that are essential for tumor progression. The process destroys the ability of the cancer cells to grow and divide, paving the way for a new type of treatment for patients with this disease. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - September 25, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
ANH-INTL EXCLUSIVE: Sally Roberts – in her own words
Neon’s mother sets the record straight following biased documentary (Source: Alliance for Natural Health)
Source: Alliance for Natural Health - August 21, 2013 Category: Complementary Medicine Authors: Sophie Tags: cancer chemotherapy cytotoxic cisplatin europe hyperbaric oxygen therapy international medulloblastoma MRI Neon Roberts NHS Proton Beam Therapy radiation Sally Roberts Source Type: news
ANH Exclusive: Sally Roberts – in her own words
Neon’s mother sets the record straight following biased documentary (Source: Alliance for Natural Health)
Source: Alliance for Natural Health - August 21, 2013 Category: Complementary Medicine Authors: Sophie Tags: cancer chemotherapy cytotoxic cisplatin europe hyperbaric oxygen therapy international medulloblastoma MRI Neon Roberts NHS Proton Beam Therapy radiation Sally Roberts Source Type: news
