Medical News

Filed under: Brain Cancer, Daily news, Radiation

Tomorrow I report for one of my six-month radiation follow-ups. My radiation oncologist will review how I’ve fared for the past two years since my left breast was zapped, day after day, week after week, in an aggressive attempt to keep cancer from returning to the same local area where it first reared its ugly head. How horrified I would be if I learned the machines used to treat my cancer were faulty, that they did not in fact do anything aggressive, that they were essentially ineffective.

Hundreds of brain cancer patients may be hearing this horrific news, now that malfunctioning machines have been ordered shut down following a manufacturer’s warning.

Brainlab of Munich, Germany claims a small targeting error occurred with their machines but that it is unlikely to cause problems for patients. If I were one of these patients, I would still be worried. Targeting the tumor bed area is crucial in any cancer treatment. I don’t like the sound of “targeting error,” regardless of how minor it may be.

There are 550 Brainlab radiotherapy machines in use worldwide, the largest concentration of them in the United States. The malfunction is believed to have occurred in just seven models, located at two hospitals in France, one in Spain, and two in the United States. The Cleveland Clinic is one and has discontinued use of the machine. So has Valley Medical Center in the Seattle suburb of Renton, Washington.

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Original post by Jacki Donaldson

Filed under: Brain Cancer, Daily news, Radiation

Tomorrow I report for one of my six-month radiation follow-ups. My radiation oncologist will review how I’ve fared for the past two years since my left breast was zapped, day after day, week after week, in an aggressive attempt to keep cancer from returning to the same local area where it first reared its ugly head. How horrified I would be if I learned the machines used to treat my cancer were faulty, that they did not in fact do anything aggressive, that they were essentially ineffective.

Hundreds of brain cancer patients may be hearing this horrific news, now that malfunctioning machines have been ordered shut down following a manufacturer’s warning.

Brainlab of Munich, Germany claims a small targeting error occurred with their machines but that it is unlikely to cause problems for patients. If I were one of these patients, I would still be worried. Targeting the tumor bed area is crucial in any cancer treatment. I don’t like the sound of “targeting error,” regardless of how minor it may be.

There are 550 Brainlab radiotherapy machines in use worldwide, the largest concentration of them in the United States. The malfunction is believed to have occurred in just seven models, located at two hospitals in France, one in Spain, and two in the United States. The Cleveland Clinic is one and has discontinued use of the machine. So has Valley Medical Center in the Seattle suburb of Renton, Washington.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Original post by Jacki Donaldson