UCLA Journal of Radiation Oncology SPRING 2024 - Flipbook - Page 14
UCLA RADIATION ONCOLOGY JOURNAL
HIGH-DOSE RADIOTHERAPY WITH CHEMOTHERAPY EFFECTIVE IN
TREATING PEOPLE WITH NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER
tumor to sensitive structures such as the airways
and esophagus. This treatment is also typically
delivered with chemotherapy which magnifies
treatment-related toxicity. Using a novel adaptive
boost technique personalized to an individual’s
treatment response after the first two thirds
of radiation treatment allows for a tighter
conformal radiation boost plan and reduction of
healthy tissue receiving radiation.”
UCLA-led study finds delivering high doses
of radiation with chemotherapy for locally
advanced lung cancer is safe and effective
when integrating a novel adaptive boost.
A new study led by researchers from the UCLA
Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
shows that using high doses of radiation while
integrating an ablative radiotherapy technique
called stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR)
concurrently with chemotherapy is safe and
effective in treating people with locally advanced
non-small cell lung cancer that is not suitable for
surgery.
In the past, the prognosis for those with
unresectable, locally advanced non-small cell
lung cancer has been poor, with low survival
rates despite treatment with a combination of
chemotherapy and radiation. Current standard
of care for this group of patients consists of
30 treatments spanning over six weeks, which
can be logistically challenging for many
patients. While outcomes have improved with
the help of modern treatment advances, like
immunotherapy, a portion of patients still
develop disease relapse in the chest.
Based on mid-treatment response, researchers
found the combination treatment, which
involves a second radiation plan to personalize a
boost for the last third of radiation treatments, is
a viable and promising option that helps reduce
the risk of toxic side effects and having the
cancer return within the chest.
One potential way to prevent cancer from
returning within the chest after local therapy is
to deliver radiation with a higher dose per single
treatment in a more intense, or ablative, fashion.
The findings were published in the journal JAMA
Oncology.
“This treatment method explores uncharted
territory,” said Dr. Trudy Wu, a radiation
oncology resident at UCLA and first author of
the study. “Our field has been moving towards
hypofractionation across many disease sites;
however, it is particularly challenging in locally
advanced lung cancer due to the close vicinity of
To find the highest personalized boost dose
that could be given safely in combination with
chemotherapy, 28 patients at UCLA with stage II
or III non-small cell lung cancer were enrolled
between May 2011 and May 2018 on an early
phase dose escalation trial.
14