Focused Radiation Therapy Can Control Cancer Spread: Study

Precisely targeted radiationdefine therapy can eradicate all evidence of cancerdefine in some patients, a new research held at the University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois finds. The focused radiations reaped a 100 percent control over all signs of cancer in almost 21 percent patients, the study claims.

For the study, researchers enrolled patients with stage IV cancerdefine with 5 or fewer sites of metastatic disease and each tumor greater than 10 cm in diameter. They were eligible to participate in the study either before or after chemotherapy treatment.

Every participant was administered 3 doses of precisely targeted radiationdefine therapy focusing on each metastatic tumor. Each sitting was separated by at least 2 days.

While the first patients received lower doses of the therapy, the radiation doses were gradually increased in subsequent groups of patients – upon reports of fewer side effects.

The study underway from November 2004 through February 2008, 6 of the 29 patients reported long-term tumor control. While many patients had a complete response in at least 1 tumor site, out of the total 56 tumors treated, 31 had completely disappeared.

Moreover, tumor control improved as the radiation dose increased, researchers highlight. With 24 Gy of radiation, 31 percent of the 31 tumors treated showed complete or partial response. The figures increased to 79 percent for the 19 tumors treated with 30 Gy radiations and to 83 percent for the 6 tumors treated with 36 Gy radiations, researchers report.

"This was proof of principle in patients who had failed the standard therapies and had few, if any, remaining options," study's senior author, Dr. Ralph Weichselbaum, a professor of radiation and cellular oncology averred.

"We had encouraging results, including several long-term survivors, in patients with stage-IV cancers that had spread to distant sites,” he marked.

The results of the study feature in the August 15 issue of the journal Clinical Cancer Research.