New Lung Cancer Treatment Produces High Cure Rate;
Hope in Place of Surgery
Stereotactic body radiotherapy, or SBRT, two-year
disease free survival or cure rate can reach up to 98%
March 9, 2009 – Lung cancer is the number one
cancer killer for men and women but these statistics may improve
considerably, according to doctors at Temple University, who report a
new treatment can double the chances of surviving the deadly disease –
and without conventional radiation or surgery.
Sarcosine is better indicator of advancing disease
than traditional prostate specific antigen test (PSA); it is detected in
urine, researchers hopeful simple urine test can be used
Death rates for 8 of the 10 leading causes of death
in U.S. all dropped significantly in 2006; Alzheimer’s passed diabetes
becoming the sixth leading cause of death
The doctors in Temple’s Radiation Oncology
Department have treated only 50 people but say the technique,
stereotactic body radiotherapy, or SBRT, not only improves a person’s
odds of surviving early stage lung cancer, but may reduce the need for
future surgeries.
“This is a big trend in radiation oncology for
early stage lung cancer patients who either can’t undergo surgery or
refuse it,” says Curtis Miyamoto, M.D., chair and professor of the
Department of Radiation Oncology at the School of Medicine.
“With the success of this technique, we’re now
questioning whether we’ll even be doing surgeries on these patients in
the future.”
Treating lung cancer with conventional radiation is
a burdensome process. Patients receive radiation therapy, which kills
the cancerous cells and shrinks tumors, five days a week for six to
seven weeks. The travel alone can be a hardship for patients not living
in the city.
In contrast, SBRT requires only three to eight
treatments, not 35. Once malignancy is confirmed through a PET CT scan
or biopsy, treatments can begin.
Patients are placed in an immobilizing
body frame to reduce movement so that doctors can focus radiation on the
tumor while reducing exposure of healthy tissue.
Although both
traditional treatments and SBRT methods involve radiation, SBRT
administers large, highly precise doses instead of multiple smaller
doses.
But
perhaps the most important advantage of SBRT is its effectiveness:
Patients who refuse or cannot receive conventional treatments for their
lung cancer face a median survival range of nine months.
For those who undergo SBRT, the median survival
range is more than 32 months. And depending on the size and seriousness
of the tumor, the two-year disease free survival, or cure rate through
SBRT increases to approximately 81 percent and can reach up to 98
percent, according to findings in the International Journal of
Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics.
The cure rate with conventional radiation is closer
to 35 percent; SBRT doubles the odds of surviving early stage lung
cancer and can actually cure at least half of the patients.
“Such high survival rates are equivalent to other
techniques, like invasive surgery, but you don’t have to go under the
knife,” says Miyamoto. “I think the big thing the patient notices is
it’s all done very quickly and the results are impressive.”
That’s welcome news to Americans considering lung
cancer is the second most diagnosed cancer in men and women (after
prostate and breast, respectively), but it is the number one cause of
death from cancer every year in both men and women, according to
statistics from
LungCancer.org.
Miyamoto will present information on SBRT this June
before the Asociacion Latinoamericana de Terapia Radiante Oncologica, or
ALATRO, which represents Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking radiation
oncologists who treat approximately 500 million people outside the
United States.
Keep up with the latest news for senior citizens, baby
boomers
March 9, 2009 – Lung cancer is the number one
cancer killer for men and women but these statistics may improve
considerably, according to doctors at Temple University, who report a
new treatment can double the chances of surviving the deadly disease –
and without conventional radiation or surgery.
Two percent lower lung cancer risk with each glass of
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