It’s all over the news. A new treatment called SBRT for lung cancer doubles the survival rate.
But what do these letters mean -- and can this treatment be used for anyone with lung cancer?
Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), is a type of radiation therapy that uses a very high dose of radiation delivered to a precise area. The procedure uses special positioning and radiology techniques to spare normal tissue, so that a higher dose of radiation can be used. It is also used for a shorter period of time than traditional radiation therapy.
This particular study was done with people with stage 1 non-small cell lung cancer. Traditionally surgery is the treatment of choice for stage 1 lung cancer, but these patients either chose not to have surgery, or had inoperable lung cancer due to the location of their tumor or other health problems that would make surgery risky. In this group, treatment with SBRT more than doubled their survival relative to having no treatment, with fewer side effects than would be expected from surgery.
Sadly, the majority of people are beyond stage 1 when they receive a diagnosis of lung cancer -- but
clinical trials are in the works for all stages of lung cancer. Is a clinical trial right for you?
- Clinical Trials for Lung Cancer – An Overview
- Should I Be in a Clinical Trial?
- Types and Phases of Clinical Trials
- How to Find Clinical Trials
Source:
Miyamoto, T. et al. Curative treatment of stage 1 non-small-cell lung cancer with carbon ion beams using a hypofractionated regimen. International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics. 2007. 57(3):750-758.
