Feasibility of tomotherapy-based image-guided radiotherapy for small cell lung cancer.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

To assess the tolerance of patients with small cell lung cancer undergoing chemoradiation with tomotherapy-based image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT).

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

A retrospective review of the toxicity profile for nine patients with small cell lung cancer of the limited stage who underwent chemoradiation delivered with helical tomotherapy (HT) has been conducted.

RESULTS:

Acute grade 3-4 hematologic and esophagitis toxicities developed in two and three patients respectively. One patient developed a pulmonary embolism during radiotherapy. Seven patients had weight loss ranging from 0 to 30 pounds (median: 4 pounds). Three patients had treatment breaks ranging from 2 to 12 days. At a median follow-up of 11 months (range: 2-24 months), no patients developed any radiation related toxicities such as grade 3-4 pneumonitis or other long-term complications. The median survival was estimated to be 15 months. There were two local recurrences, three mediastinal recurrences, and six distant metastases.

CONCLUSION:

Grade 3-4 toxicities remained significant during chemoradiation when radiation was delivered with tomotherapy-based IGRT. However, the absence of grade 3-4 pneumonitis is promising and the use of HT needs to be investigated in future prospective studies.

• Authors: Nam P Nguyen, Wei Shen, Sarah Kratz, Jacqueline Vock, Paul Vos, Vinh-Hung Vincent, Gabor Altdorfer, Lars Ewell, Siyoung Jang, Ulf Karlsson, Juan Godinez, Melissa Mills, Thomas Sroka, Suresh Dutta, Alexander Chi, International Geriatric Radiotherapy Group
• Journal: Frontiers in oncology (Front Oncol) Vol. 3 Pg. 289 ( 2013) ISSN: 2234-943X [Print] Switzerland
• PMID: 24324932 (Publication Type: Journal Article)