Advanced radiotherapy treatment, combined with chemotherapy, in small cell lung cancer leads to higher survival rates and lower toxicity, according to a new study.
Advanced radiotherapy treatment, combined with chemotherapy, in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) leads to higher survival rates and lower toxicity, according to a new study.
The University of Manchester and Christie NHS Foundation performed a 10-year study that treated patients with SCLC—in sites across Europe, Canada, Spain, and France—once or twice daily with radiotherapy regimes and chemotherapy. With the radiotherapy treatment, 5-year survival rates tripled.
In the 1980s, studies of chemotherapy alone demonstrated a 10% survival rate, while this study maintained a survival rate of 35%. The 5-year survival rate among the twice daily group reached 34% and 31% for the once-daily group.
“Despite excellent response to both chemotherapy and radiotherapy in most patients, the cancer will usually recur both locally but also distantly,” says Corinne Faivre-Finn, the study leader and a professor of lung cancer radiotherapy at The University of Manchester. “However, the twice-daily and once-daily regimes we tested showed the best survival and toxicity rates compared to previously reported studies.”
Professor Faivre-Finn also attributes the success of the radiotherapy treatments to the new and modern techniques. The study, known as CONVERT, used a 3-dimensional radiotherapy and an intensity modulated radio therapy, which allowed the radiation beams to specifically reflect the outline of the tumor.
Patients treated with the radiotherapy regimes demonstrated the ability to cope better with common side effects compared with previous studies—20% of patients with severe inflammation of oesophagus were hospitalized while 34% in the US Intergroup study. The most common side effects of this combined chemo-radiotherapy treatment were neutropenia, anaemia, nausea, anorexia, and fatigue.
“Radiotherapy is a hugely important part of treatment for limited stage small cell lung cancer as it helps to control the local disease in combination with chemotherapy,” Faivre-Finn said. “We hope this study will establish a standard treatment in limited stage small-cell lung cancer. Currently in the UK less than 20 percent of centres give twice daily radiotherapy routinely.”
Persistence Pays Off With Zanubrutinib: A Challenging CLL Case With a Prior BTK Inhibitor Failure
May 10th 2024The case of a 77-year-old woman with a long chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) history illustrates the novel use of zanubrutinib as a potential option for some patients who have failed first-generation Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors and venetoclax.
Read More
Frameworks for Advancing Health Equity: Urban Health Outreach
May 9th 2024In the series debut episode of "Frameworks for Advancing Health Equity," Mary Sligh, CRNP, and Chelsea Chappars, of Allegheny Health Network, explain how the Urban Health Outreach program aims to improve health equity for individuals experiencing homelessness.
Listen
Examining Low-Value Cancer Care Trends Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 25th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on the rates of low-value cancer care services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Listen
Posters Characterize DMD Caregiver Experiences, Impact of Gene Therapy on Caregiving Demands
May 10th 2024Posters presented at the ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research meeting explored Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) caregiver experiences and gene therapy’s impact on work opportunities for caregivers.
Read More