High-dose radiation therapy improves long-term survival in patients with stage-IV cancers
The first report from a phase II, multi-center clinical trial indicates that a newer, more aggressive form of radiation therapy — stereotactic radiation — can extend long-term survival for some patients with stage-IV cancers while maintaining their quality of life. The study is published in the January issue of International Journal of Radiation Oncology * Biology * Physics (Red Journal), the flagship scientific journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
“Despite many advances in cancer care over the last 20 to 30 years, some patients still go on to develop metastatic or stage-IV disease. Generally speaking, radiation therapy in that setting has been used only to make the patient comfortable,” said Dwight E. Heron, MD, MBA, FACRO, FACR, senior author of the study and director of radiation services at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in Pittsburgh.
“It also has been the case, however, that a small number of patients with stage-IV disease could have surgery to remove their metastases and live a long time. And so our question was, could we use highly focused radiation to destroy those tumors and have the same effect as surgery? The initial answer from this large prospective trial is yes.”