Quality of life study shows stereotactic ablative radiotherapy effective treatment; stage I NSCLC

Until recently, many elderly patients with stage I non-small cell lung cancer were left untreated because treatment may not improve their quality of life. However, stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) has become one of the standards of treatment for these patients. The outpatient treatment given over a two-week period allows frail patients to undergo the treatment.

Researchers wanted to know if this treatment maintained the same health-related qualify of life levels as patients receiving surgery. The researchers received questionnaires from 382 patients treated with SABR from 68 centers in The Netherlands. The questionnaire asked patients to rate things like physical function, appetite loss, pain and emotional function.

The study, presented in the July 2012 issue of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's (IASLC) Journal of Thoracic Oncology, concluded that the health-related quality of life in these patients does not seem to be negatively affected.

The authors conclude that in contrast to patients who underwent surgery, measures of qualify of life scores including a range of functional and symptom outcomes did not deteriorate in the first two years after SABR.

The lead author of this work is Dr. Frank Lagerwaard. Co-authors include IASLC members Dr. Cornelis Haasbeek, Dr. and Prof. Ben Slotman and Prof. Suresh Senan.

About the IASLC:

The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) is the only global organization dedicated to the study of lung cancer. Founded in 1974, the association's membership includes more than 3,500 lung cancer specialists in 80 countries. To learn more about IASLC please visit www.iaslc.org.

Media Contact

Kristal Griffith EurekAlert!

More Information:

http://www.iaslc.org

All latest news from the category: Health and Medicine

This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.

Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

The Sound of the Perfect Coating

Fraunhofer IWS Transfers Laser-based Sound Analysis of Surfaces into Industrial Practice with “LAwave”. Sound waves can reveal surface properties. Parameters such as surface or coating quality of components can be…

Customized silicon chips

…from Saxony for material characterization of printed electronics. How efficient are new materials? Does changing the properties lead to better conductivity? The Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS develops and…

Acetylation: a Time-Keeper of glucocorticoid Sensitivity

Understanding the regulatory mechanism paves the way to enhance the effectiveness of anti-inflammatory therapies and to develop strategies to counteract the negative effects of stress- and age-related cortisol excess. The…

Partners & Sponsors