Lung-Sparing Alternative Heals Lung Cancer
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Many patients with early-stage lung cancer may soon have a new option for the treatment of the disease.
Researchers from Indiana University in Bloomington have pioneered a lung-sparing procedure that offers an alternative to standard radiation therapy. In a phase I trial, researchers treated nearly 50 people with early-stage lung cancer and extracranial stereotactic body radiation therapy. These patients, who normally would have been treated with surgery and radiation, had other health problems that made them poor candidates for surgery.
In extracranial stereotactic body radiation therapy, doctors use precision mapping of the lung cancer and a sterotactic body frame that keeps the patient still. Doctors escalate radiation doses, directing it all to the tumor site and avoiding healthy surrounding tissue. The mapping lets physicians target higher doses of radiation to the diseased tissue while protecting healthy tissue and organs.
Ronald C. McGarry, M.D., Ph.D., from Indiana University, says, "Patients receiving the extracranial stereotactic body radiation were spared the trauma of surgery but were able to undergo higher doses of radiation for a shorter period of time than the standard treatment. I think of the treatment as a lung-sparing approach, and this study shows it is one of the most effective options for lung cancer patients for whom surgery is not an option."
Patients in the study received three treatments in fewer than 10 days, compared to the standard therapy of 35 treatments over six weeks. Researchers say patients tolerated the intense treatment with few long-term side effects. Although 14 of the 47 patients developed spread of their lung cancer, only one patient in the higher dose groups had a return of the treated cancer.
Using the high doses achieved in this phase I study, researchers conducted a second study of more than 70 patients. That study was completed over a year ago and showed, after an average two year follow-up; only three patients had a cancer recurrence.
Dr. McGarry says, "Stereotactic body radiation therapy is proving to be a safe and effective way to treat early stage lung cancer in medically inoperable patients. This treatment may become standard treatment for frail patients and an alternative to [surgery] for other patients who do not have the medical complications."
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SOURCE: International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, and Physics, 2005;63:1010-1015
