Radiation oncology vendor Elekta is highlighting research that found stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to be a safe treatment option for early-stage lung cancer patients ages 80 and older.
The research, published online in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, includes data from more than 1,000 patients from the five institutions that comprise the Elekta Lung Research Group (ELRG).
A team led by Dr. Meredith Giuliani at the University Health Network in Toronto evaluated safety and efficacy outcomes of 1,083 patients treated with SBRT for early-stage lung cancer between 2004 and 2014. The cohort included 305 patients younger than 70, 448 patients between the ages of 70 and 79, and 330 patients 80 and older. The patients were followed for a median of 1.7 years (Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys, July 15, 2017, Vol. 98:4, pp 893-899).
Giuliani and colleagues found no significant differences among the three age groups regarding two-year local recurrence, regional recurrence, distant metastases, or the incidence of grade 3 or higher toxicity. Cause-specific survival was similar among all three age groups. Two-year overall survival was lower in older patients, a finding the team attributed to patients having additional medical issues, Elekta said.
The ELRG includes William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI; Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto; Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia; Julius-Maximilians University of Würzburg in Germany; and the Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital in Amsterdam.
