Source: DGNews  |  Posted 8 years ago

By Patrice Olson

VANCOUVER, BC -- August 20, 2003 -- Investigators have confirmed the safety and efficacy of hypofractionated radical radiotherapy for medically inoperable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Results of their study, involving 64 men and 41 women, median age of 71 years and 68 years, who were medically unfit for surgery, were presented at the 10th World Conference on Lung Cancer, held here Aug. 10th-14th. Sixty-four percent of patients had stage I NSCLC, while 19% had stage II disease and 17% had stage III disease

Dr. Jason Lester, Velindre Hospital, Cardiff, United Kingdom, and colleagues treated the patients at their own institution with computed tomography (CT)-planned radical radiotherapy using Advantage Windows (GE Medical Systems) or Helax2 (Digital equipment corporation) systems. The technique targeted all tumors with a 1.5 to 2 cm margin in all directions while avoiding routine targeting of the mediastinum.

The hypofractionated regimen involved 50 to 55 Gy given in 15 or 20 fractions over 3 to 4 weeks. Full data are available for 105 patients out of the original cohort of 142 participants.

At a median follow-up of 42 months, median survival was 22.5 months, while 33% of the cohort was alive at 36 months. No patient developed grade 3 or 4 pneumonitis.

There was a non-significant trend towards poorer survival in patients with higher-stage disease.

"This is the first report of patients treated with hypofractionated radical radiotherapy using modern planning techniques," according to the researchers, "and the overall survival compares favorably with previously published studies on radical radiotherapy."

[Study title: Hypofractionated radical radiotherapy for medically inoperable non-small cell lung cancer patients. Abstract O-24]