The latest options with stereotactic radiation treatments will be presented, including information on a promising lung cancer trial that has received National Institutes of Health funding.
Robert D. Timmerman, M.D., associate professor of radiation oncology at IU, is the principal investigator of the clinical trial, which will treat 35 patients at nine medical centers in the United States and Canada. The centers are members of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group. This is the third of a series of trials and the first to be conducted nationwide; the first two phases of the study were conducted only at the IU School of Medicine.
This study will treat early-stage non-small cell lung cancer patients with three-dimensional imaging and high doses of radiation to more precisely target and kill cancer cells in the lung. The procedure uses a three dimension computer-generated grid system to more precisely map the location where therapy is directed.
The painless, minimally invasive therapy uses stereotactic body mapping made possible with specially designed equipment that accounts for natural body motion (including breathings) to ensure the precision of radiation beams aimed at the tumor.
The results of the initial phase of the study were published in the November 2003 journal Chest. Forty-seven patients were treated and Dr. Timmerman and his colleagues reported that high doses of radiation were tolerated and 87 percent of those treated had a positive tumor response.
The second phase of the trial is almost complete and results will be reported by IU School of Medicine researchers. The initi
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Contact: Joe Stuteville
jstutevi@iupui.edu
317-274-7722
Indiana University
18-May-2004