low dose radiation with or without tarseva NSCA - 1270454

Hi stash,

Although each situation is unique, in general oncologists seem to favor stopping Iressa/Tarceva during radiation since they can be radiosensitizers, increasing the effects of the radiation beyond what is desired or safe. As Dr. Weiss has said:

"I do not use tarceva concurrent with radiation in my practice. I fear safety issues, and also the potential for tarceva to keep cells out of cycle (not dividing) at time when radiation is being given (when you'd like them in cycle and therefor more susceptible to radiation)." -http://cancergrace.org/forums/index.php/topic,11108.msg90945.html#msg90…

In discussing trial results in which Iressa was combined with radiation, Dr. West stated:

"There really may be harmful interactions of EGFR inhibitors with radiation that we may not understand. I don’t think these results are clear enough to raise alarms, but it certainly suggests that we should be cautious about presuming that combining treatments is definitely a fine idea." - http://cancergrace.org/lung/2011/01/03/adding-egfr-inhibitor-therapy-to…

Good luck with treatment.

JimC
Forum moderator