merrill
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Posts:1
71 year old otherwise healthy female with Stage IVb thymus carcinoma. Carbo/taxol plus mediastinal radiation of 60gy 3 years ago. Healthy since, now with recurrence of mediastinal mass by superior vena cava. Option offered was low dose conventional re-irradiation of mediastinal tumor /area. Would stereotactic radiotherapy be better option for re-irradation of a mediastinal mass? She is asymptomatic to above.
Thanks.
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Reply # - September 15, 2013, 01:19 PM
Reply To: repeat radiotherapy: conventional vs stereotactic
I'd like to see if we can get some insight from one of our faculty with an expertise in radiation oncology. We'll hope to get an opinion soon.
In the meantime, here's a post written about re-irradiation:
http://cancergrace.org/radiation/2011/07/14/repeating-chest-rt/
-Dr. West
Reply # - September 17, 2013, 03:41 PM
Reply To: repeat radiotherapy: conventional vs stereotactic
Sometimes it takes a couple to days for our radiation onc to comment but I've asked again just in case.
Reply # - September 17, 2013, 06:03 PM
Reply To: repeat radiotherapy: conventional vs stereotactic
Hi Merrill -
In general, with stereotactic techniques, it is possible to increase dose delivered to the recurrent lesion safely.
How meaningful this is depends on the size/volume of the recurrent lesion. Smaller lesions can be treated to very high doses with stereotactic guidance.
Other variable are important too, in terms of what specific technique is used and how this accounts for variation in location of the recurrent mass with respiration.
With thoracic re-irradiation we usually do use a stereotactic platform.
I hope that helps.
-Dr Loiselle