'Sculpted' radiation for early lung cancer

SYRACUSE, N.Y., July 20 (UPI) -- Radiation shaped to duplicate the dimensions of early-stage lung cancers are a good alternative to surgery for some patients, say New York researchers.

So called "conformal" radiation therapy uses information from CT and MRI scans to "sculpt" a radiation beam to the exact dimensions of a tumor.

The beam is emitted from a computerized radiotherapy machine with many sliding filters, and the machine is timed to each patient's unique breathing pattern so the radiation dose is delivered only when the patient's chest is in a certain position in the breathing cycle.

Researchers at SUNY Upstate Medical University tested the therapy on 40 Stage 1 non-small cell lung cancer patients between the ages of 48 and 87. One half of the patients survived at least three years, results the researchers called "very promising."

Only three patients had a recurrence of their tumor in the same location and only one experienced significant side effects, they noted.

The researchers did the study to find a treatment alternative for high-risk Stage 1 lung cancer patients who were not surgical candidates because of poor lung function or other medical problems.

The findings were recently presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.