Radiation Therapy for Lung Cancer Treatment

Radiation therapy uses high dose X-rays that injure cancer cells. Radiation therapy may be used in many ways to treat lung cancer — as curative treatment, before or after surgery, with chemotherapy, immunotherapy and other drug therapies.

The goal of radiation therapy is to treat the cancer while giving as little radiation to normal tissues as possible. Lung cancer is particularly challenging to treat due to the proximity of the tumor to critical tissues such as lung, airways, heart, major blood vessels, esophagus and the spinal cord. Additionally, the tumor and normal tissues are in motion during treatment due to breathing.

Through advanced imaging and treatment technologies, the goal of radiation therapy for lung cancer is to treat cancer locally (where it started) and precisely to the tumors, rather than delivering a dose to a larger area. Radiation for separate body regions may be very different.

Advanced delivery systems and techniques are used to effectively and safely plan and deliver radiation therapy. 4-D imaging is used to plan all radiation therapy to the chest. It provides the necessary information to adjust radiation targeting for breathing motion. This can be accomplished with gated treatment delivery, breath hold and/or tumor tracking techniques. These techniques ensure the tumor is in the treatment field during all phases of the breathing cycle.

Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT)

Delivering high-dose radiation therapy to a focused area has proven very effective at treating and curing early stage lung cancers. It is a precisely focused technique that limits the radiation dose to other areas and can often be given in as few as three to five treatments.

Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT)

IGRT involves daily imaging to make certain the patient is positioned correctly for treatment. If we are certain the patient is positioned within a small variation, we can use a smaller radiation field, which means potentially less toxicity and greater accuracy.

Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT)

IMRT is an advanced form of radiation therapy that allows doctors to deliver precise radiation doses that conform closely to the shape of a tumor or specific areas within the tumor. The strength of the radiation beams can be adjusted in small volumes, allowing more control over how much radiation is delivered to different parts of the tumor. IMRT delivers radiation from multiple angles, so high doses can be focused on the tumor while sparing surrounding healthy tissue like organs and nerves. CT, MRI, or PET scans help map the tumor, and specialized software calculates the optimal dose distribution.

Tumor Ablation for Lung Cancer 

This subspecialty of radiology uses imaging technology to guide minimally invasive procedures, sometimes done as an alternative to surgery, especially for patients who may be too ill for surgery. Using fluoroscopy, ultrasound and CT, interventional radiologists guide needles, catheters and other devices through small incisions in the body to reach targeted areas. Most of these procedures are performed using local anesthesia and moderate sedation.

Radiation Oncology Research Leadership

Our radiation oncologists are national leaders in developing clinical studies and standards for lung cancer treatment. They have leadership roles in the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) sponsored research cooperatives and have specialized expertise and knowledge not readily found elsewhere.

Accredited: Radiation oncology is accredited by the American College of Radiology (ACR). ACR accreditation involves a rigorous process of impartial, third-party peer review according to recognized standards of the scientific community.

Credentialed: Additionally, the department is credentialed for conventional and special radiation therapy procedures for treatment of lung cancer through the NCI-sponsored Advanced Technology Consortium. Credentialing is required for quality assurance for patients treated in NCI-sponsored clinical trials that use and evaluate image-guided radiation therapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy and stereotactic body radiation therapy. Credentialing ensures appropriate treatment in clinical trials and raises the standard of care for patients not treated with clinical trials.