Radiation
The end of September found me in Boston at ASTRO, the annual meeting of radiation oncologists. MD Anderson Cancer Center presented their study on whole brain radiation vs. stereotactic radiation for 1-3 brain metastases as part of the plenary session, and I wanted to review it with you here and place it into a […]
9 CommentsTargeting cancer cells and missing all of the normal tissue is the Holy Grail of cancer therapy. It is the cancer equivalent to the perfect diet: eat everything you want, never exercise and stay perfectly skinny and fit. Doesn’t happen in metabolics and doesn’t happen in cancer therapy. Yet, to hear radiation oncologists or […]
2 CommentsSomeone recently asked this question, which sounds like the start of a bad joke, but it’s actually an excellent question for it gets to the heart of the challenge of fractionated radiation therapy (given over multiple treatments, or fractions): “Why do we what we do, and can’t patient comfort or convenience play a larger […]
5 CommentsDr. West previously wrote an introductory post (here) about radiation pneumonitis, but this is a common enough problem that it merits further discussion, including input from a radiation oncologist. The other issue is that Dr. West was using a review article of mine (abstract here) as a crib sheet, so now I can give you […]
1 CommentsEsophagitis is a symptom that occurs in patients undergoing radiation for lung cancer. It is not uncommon for patients to blame the radiation for this side effect. Radiation esophagitis if often described as a “sunburn on the inside of the esophagus.” The esophagus it the long swallowing tube that sits in the middle of […]
0 CommentsA diagnosis of brain metastases has to be one of the most scary and disappointing of all potholes on the cancer journey. It is unfortunately common, happening to about 170,000 new patients each year in the US alone, about half of whom have lung cancer. Radiation therapy is the standard treatment and it is very […]
49 CommentsDespite the acute side effects, it is important to try and deliver the radiation treatment without any interruptions or delays in treatment. Experiments in the laboratory with cancer cell lines demonstrate quite convincingly that interrupting the radiation treatment even for a few days allows the cancer cells to grow back. A large retrospective study […]
0 Comments Image Guided Radiotherapy, which his also known as IGRT, is a new and emerging technology in radiotherapy.
In its broadest sense, IGRT applies to any of a number of technologies that improve the ability of the radiation oncologist to validate the patient’s exact position prior to initiating radiotherapy. For many of years, the standard […]
Some patients with small and early stage lung cancer are not able to undergo a surgical resection because of other medical conditions that might make an operation too risky. In this patient population, radiotherapy alone has often been the primary treatment.
Radiation is a very effective treatment modality for patients with any type of […]
The treatment of lung cancer with radiotherapy is rapidly changing as new technologies make the treatment safer and more effective. One of the more recent developments has been the development of tools that allow for designing radiation fields that account for a tumor’s specific motion, or it’s change in position over time, the fourth […]
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