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Cancer Resources > Cancer News > Cancer News from Reuters > Reuters Cancer News > 2009 > November
Stereotactic body radiation therapy halts lung tumor progression in frail inoperable patients
contrast, SBRT involves just 3 outpatient sessions that last one hour each. "People can get back to their life after treatmen
Last Updated: 2009-11-03 15:26:37 -0400 (Reuters Health)
CHICAGO (Reuters Health) - Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) can effectively treat very early stage 1 non-small cell lung cancer in patients who are too frail to undergo surgery, according to phase II trial results presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology annual meeting (ASTRO 2009).
In fact, SBRT halted tumor progression in 54 of 55 inoperable patients with stage 1 disease at the 3-year follow-up mark, for a local control rate of 98%, announced Dr. Robert D. Timmerman, from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Until SBRT, the alternative for frail inoperable patients with non-small cell lung cancer has been conventional radiotherapy, which involves daily treatments for 5 to 7 weeks, after which more than half of patients develop recurrence.
The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0236 trial was conducted between May 2004 and October 2006 at eight institutions in the US and Canada. Patients were treated with a dose of 54 Gy in three fractions. Median follow-up was 34 months.
Severe toxicity occurred in 20% of patients, a rate that was lower than expected.
"We were pleasantly surprised because we thought that it would be around 33% with such potent treatment," Dr. Timmerman commented. "Still, we need to work on improving the toxicity rate, because 20% is higher than we'd like it to be."
"Nevertheless," he continued, "I think we can say that...(we) have a new standard of care for this group of patients who cannot tolerate surgery."
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