Cancer is a leading cause of death that affects numerous people at every age and their relatives. In recent years, there has been a tremendous advancement in imaging and biotechnology technologies and techniques for aiding in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Emerging Developments and Practices in Oncology provides research on recent advances in oncology aiming to improve early detection and personalized treatment of cancer. While highlighting applied methods of therapy, such as body radiotherapy, chemoradiotherapy, and immunotherapy, readers learn about the transforming approach to oncology in modern medicine and new technologies used to diagnose and treat cancer. This book is an important resource for medical trainees, graduate students, active practitioners, researchers, and clinical scientists seeking current research on oncology trends and applications.

Based on: DeVita, Hellman, and Rosenberg's cancer / editors, Vincent T. DeVita Jr., Theodore S. Lawrence, Steven A. Rosenberg. 9th ed. c2011.

There were no medical oncologists until a few decades ago. In the early 1960s, not only were there no such specialists, many practitioners regarded the treatment of terminally-ill cancer patients with heroic courses of chemotherapy as highly questionable. Physicians loath to assign patients randomly to competing treatments also expressed their outright opposition to the randomized clinical trials that were then relatively rare. And yet today these trials form the basis of medical oncology. How did such a spectacular change occur? How did medical oncology move from a non-entity and in some regards a reviled practice to the central position it now occupies in modern medicine? Cancer on Trial answers these questions by exploring how practitioners established a new style of practice, at the center of which lies the cancer clinical trial.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death among adults in the United States after heart disease. However, improvements in cancer treatment and earlier detection are leading to growing numbers of cancer survivors. As the number of cancer survivors grows, there is increased interest in how cancer and its treatments may affect a person's ability to work, whether the person has maintained employment throughout the treatment or is returning to work at a previous, current, or new place of employment. Cancer-related impairments and resulting functional limitations may or may not lead to disability as defined by the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA), however, adults surviving cancer who are unable to work because of cancer-related impairments and functional limitations may apply for disability benefits from SSA. At the request of SSA, Diagnosing and Treating Adult Cancers and Associated Impairments provides background information on breast cancer, lung cancer, and selected other cancers to assist SSA in its review of the listing of impairments for disability assessments. This report addresses several specific topics, including determining the latest standards of care as well as new technologies for understanding disease processes, treatment modalities, and the effect of cancer on a person's health and functioning, in order to inform SSA's evaluation of disability claims for adults with cancer.

This new book educates readers about new technologies before they appear in hospitals, enabling medical physicists and clinicians to prepare for new technologies thoroughly and proactively, and provide better patient care once new equipment becomes available. Emerging technologies in imaging, treatment planning, treatment delivery, dosimetry and informatics are all discussed. The book is divided into three parts: recently developed technologies available for practice; technologies under development nearing completion; and technologies in an early stage of development that could have potential radiotherapy applications. Features: Introduces emerging technologies in imaging, treatment planning, treatment delivery, dosimetry and informatics The advantages and limitations of each technology in clinical settings are discussed, and recommendations on how to adopt the technologies are provided Critiques and improvement points are provided for researchers, in addition to suggestions on how to prepare quality assurance are provided as needed

An ideal health care system relies on efficiently generating timely, accurate evidence to deliver on its promise of diminishing the divide between clinical practice and research. There are growing indications, however, that the current health care system and the clinical research that guides medical decisions in the United States falls far short of this vision. The process of generating medical evidence through clinical trials in the United States is expensive and lengthy, includes a number of regulatory hurdles, and is based on a limited infrastructure. The link between clinical research and medical progress is also frequently misunderstood or unsupported by both patients and providers. The focus of clinical research changes as diseases emerge and new treatments create cures for old conditions. As diseases evolve, the ultimate goal remains to speed new and improved medical treatments to patients throughout the world. To keep pace with rapidly changing health care demands, clinical research resources need to be organized and on hand to address the numerous health care questions that continually emerge. Improving the overall capacity of the clinical research enterprise will depend on ensuring that there is an adequate infrastructure in place to support the investigators who conduct research, the patients with real diseases who volunteer to participate in experimental research, and the institutions that organize and carry out the trials. To address these issues and better understand the current state of clinical research in the United States, the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation held a 2-day workshop entitled Transforming Clinical Research in the United States. The workshop, summarized in this volume, laid the foundation for a broader initiative of the Forum addressing different aspects of clinical research. Future Forum plans include further examining regulatory, administrative, and structural barriers to the effective conduct of clinical research; developing a vision for a stable, continuously funded clinical research infrastructure in the United States; and considering strategies and collaborative activities to facilitate more robust public engagement in the clinical research enterprise.