Skip to main content

Possible New Treatment Standard for Nation’s Number One Cancer Killer

TOP - Daily

 

Conventional lung cancer treatment protocols often call for radiation therapy to be administered after chemotherapy for patients with locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, a new treatment standard may be on the horizon.

According to a recent study, more patients with locally advanced NSCLC who received chemotherapy and radiation therapy concurrently were still living after 5 years compared to those who received the therapies in sequence. The study was published online September 8 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

“The significant increase in five-year survival for patients receiving concurrent versus sequential treatment establishes a new treatment standard for this large population of lung cancer patients,” said Walter J. Curran, Jr, MD, principal investigator of the study and executive director of Winship Cancer Institute. Dr Curran is also chair of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, which conducted the clinical trial.

The phase 3 study involved 610 participants diagnosed with stage III NSCLC from 153 North American institutions. Participants were randomized into 3 arms. One arm of patients received cisplatin-based chemotherapy and radiation therapy in sequence. Patients in another arm were given radiation and chemotherapy concurrently once a day. The third arm of patients received both therapies in tandem but twice a day.

Study results showed:

  • Those who received concurrent therapy once per day experienced the best outcome; 16% were still living after 5 years
  • The patients who were given the therapies sequentially did not do as well; 10% were still living after 5 years
  • Of those who received concurrent therapy twice per day, 13% were still living after 5 years

Lung cancer is often not discovered until in the late stages and therefore is difficult to treat. In fact, each year about 50,000 Americans are diagnosed with stage III NSCLC. As a result of this study, healthcare providers has gained increased knowledge about how best to treat these patients.

Source: Winship Cancer Institute.