Radiation therapy firm Varian Medical Systems said it has become a supporter of a phase III study comparing radiosurgery with conventional surgery for the treatment of early-stage, high-risk, operable non-small cell lung cancer.
Sponsored by the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI), the study will take place over the next eight years and will examine patients' overall, disease-free, and regional recurrence-free survival rates three years after treatment, according to Varian. It will also examine adverse events and post-treatment quality-of-life measures.
The study is being overseen by the Alliance, an NCI-sponsored research cooperative that was formed in March 2011 from the merger of the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG), Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB), and the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG). Referred to as ACOSOG Z4099/RTOG1021, the study plans to accrue 420 patients over a five-year period, Varian said.
Dr. Hiran Fernando of Boston Medical Center is serving as study chair, while Dr. Robert Timmerman of University of Texas Southwestern is study co-chair.
