Shalmali Pal

October 28, 2009

A long-term study of breast imaging in Massachusetts has confirmed what mammographers have argued for years: older adult women who do not receive regular screening mammography are far more likely to die of breast cancer than women who routinely undergo the procedure.

June 01, 2009

Low-dose CT lung cancer screening carries a high burden of false-positive results after only two rounds of testing, according to a presentation at the 2009 American Society of Clinical Oncology.

April 21, 2009

DENVER -- In 1974, Joseph Fraumeni Jr., MD, MSc, served as a member of the AACR annual meeting program committee. “At the time, epidemiology did not have a prominent place on the program,” Dr. Fraumeni said during the grand opening session of the 2009 AACR meeting. “In fact, only one abstract related to epidemiology was submitted, and it was mine. Since it was assigned to me for review, I promptly accepted my presentation.”

December 03, 2008

Clinical trials in oncology demand standardized measurements of imaging scans to assess treatment response, but, unfortunately, the existing clinical workflow is not designed to produce these cohesive measurements on a routine basis. A group from Dana Farber Cancer Center has proposed using imaging analysts to deliver more consistent results.

December 01, 2008

Oncology patients have a fourfold risk above the general population of developing pulmonary embolism. If the patient is receiving chemotherapy, the risk is even greater. Irish radiologists have found that imaging these patients with thin-slice CT during routine staging or restaging can pinpoint clinically unsuspected pulmonary embolism.

November 30, 2008

Prostate-specific antigen measurements are considered a useful organ-specific marker, but they are not necessarily an adequate tumor marker. PET/CT in combination with PSA levels can play a significant role in detecting and staging prostate cancer, according to two presentations Sunday at RSNA 2008.

November 20, 2008

RSNA presentations on prostate cancer staging and treatment, along with talks on radiation therapy for thoracic malignancies, have piqued the interest of cancer care specialists. But in general, oncologists and radiation oncologists conveyed some reservations about this year’s offerings in oncologic imaging and therapies.

August 01, 2008

Cystic lesions of the pancreas tend to be a phenomenon of aging. These lesions tend to be benign, but sorting out the small number with potential for malignancy is important.

July 01, 2008

Many imagers focus on limiting dose, but presentation looks at plusses from a little bit of radiation exposure When it comes to radiation dose, the news media, and the general public by extension, zero in one aspect only: risk, risk, and more risk. But what about any potential positive effects of exposure to ionizing radiation? In a talk at the Stanford Multidetector- Row CT symposium in Las Vegas, Cynthia McCollough, Ph.D., took on the task of scientifically demonstrating that some level of radiation exposure may be a good thing.

July 01, 2008

Despite setbacks in the laboratory and the press, multislice CT as a possible screening test for lung cancer continues to provoke strong interest in anticipation of findings from randomized multicenter clinical trials that may ultimately judge its value.