Treatment - Radiotherapy

Radiation therapy, which is also known as radio therapy, is used to treatment as a result of a lung cancer patient being ineligible for surgery. Certain surgical limitations in lung cancer cases are put upon patients with cancers that are in dangerous proximity to other surrounding vital parts or those whose cancer are too big for a single surgery, or those which have spread to other parts of the body. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy are the most common other forms of surgery for lung cancers.

Radiation therapy is most useful today in small lung cancers, whose patients are ineligible for surgery. However, it has other uses in lung cancer such as shrinking the tumor to the point where surgery is less dangerous, post surgery in the interest of killing any remaining cells, and treating other areas of the body affected by the lung cancer such as the brain. It is important to understand how radiation therapy works to understand it usefulness in the context of a patient's individual treatment plan. Radiation therapy is the administration of high energy X-ray particles which can kill rapidly dividing cancer cells. The radiation has the ability to dramatically slow cell division by altering chromosomal processes which lend themselves to cell division.

Most often, radiation therapy is administered through an external beam which is aimed at a specific area of the lung for a certain period of time. Often these treatments are given in a series of short sessions, or �fractions' over a six week period. Time must be given to determine if the radiation treatments are effectively inhibiting cancer cell division. Varying degrees of success have been attained using variations with regards to intensity of the radiation and frequency of treatments. There have been several advancements in recent years with the integration of computer imaging into the radio therapy process. Specialists will use computer topography (CT) to develop a 3D image of the patient's tumor. The radiation will then be applied from several different angles. Experimental use of the treatment has shown promise that doctors will be able to offer this therapy to more patients who otherwise may not have been eligible for radiotherapy for other reasons.

Today, several lung cancer patients who have small tumors but are not candidates for surgery are receiving curative doses of radiation therapy. Radiation treatment has shown the ability to be a highly effective cure for some tumors, including lung carcinomas. It provides an important alternative for patients who may be otherwise ineligible for surgery or chemotherapy.