Clinical Oncologists are specialists in radiotherapy treatment for lung cancer. They have reached agreement on which treatment options are considered for which groups of patients. This consensus is available to all the health care professionals across the country. This enables patients to get the same treatment opportunities wherever they live.
If radiotherapy is being considered to treat your lung cancer, all the professionals involved in your care will discuss this together. Your team will explain to you the aim of radiotherapy treatment and what the side effects might be.
Radiotherapy is high energy X-ray treatment which can be very effective for killing cancer cells. Helpful information can be found on the Macmillan cancer support site.The dose of radiation and the timing depends on your type of cancer and your overall treatment plan.
Some useful terms:
Types of Lung Cancer
- Non-small Cell Lung Cancer – this is the most common type of lung cancer. It includes several different types of pathology including adenocarcinoma and squamous cell cancer.
- Small Cell Lung Cancer – less common. Usually chemotherapy or drug treatment is most helpful, but radiotherapy included for some patients.
Aim of radiotherapy treatment
- Radical radiotherapy – This means radiation given at a high enough dose to potentially kill all the cancer cells and achieve cure.
- Palliative radiotherapy – This is usually radiation given at a lower dose and over a shorter time. The aim of treatment is to control the cancer and improve symptoms.
Timing of radiotherapy
- Concurrent chemoradiotherapy – This is chemotherapy/drug treatment given on the same days as radiotherapy treatment. Giving both at once is more intense treatment which might kill more cancer cells but will also have more side effects.
- Sequential chemoradiotherapy– This means using both radiotherapy and chemotherapy. One given after the other. Sometimes you will get chemotherapy first to shrink the tumour. Then it may be easier to give high doses of radiation to a smaller target.
- Adjuvant radiotherapy – This is radiotherapy treatment given after surgery. This will be given if there is a risk that traces of cancer remain after surgery. The aim of treatment is to reduce the risk the cancer might come back.
- Consolidation radiotherapy – This may be used in small cell lung cancer where the initial treatment is chemotherapy. Radiotherapy following on from the chemotherapy can be helpful. We add this is in as ‘consolidation’.
Technical radiotherapy terms
- Stereotactic radiotherapy – This is a high dose of radiation aimed very precisely at a small target area. In this way it is possible to give a curative dose of radiation over a short number of treatments. It is only offered in small tumours in areas that can be targeted without risk. You can find more information at Cancer Research UK.
- ‘Fractions’ – Radiotherapy is usually given as a small dose each day Monday to Friday. Each of these doses is called a fraction. Some radical treatments may need over 30 fractions. Palliative treatments get a larger dose in each fraction, sometimes just one fraction is needed.
- ‘Gray’ – This is the measurement of radiation dose. For radical treatments it is often 55 Gray or more spread over several fractions.
- ‘Prophylactic Cranial Irradiation’ – We may offer this treatment if you have small cell lung cancer and your cancer has shrunk well following chemotherapy. It is radiation treatment to the brain, not because your cancer has spread to your brain but to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back in the brain. This is a preventative or prophylactic treatment.
For any radiotherapy treatment your team will explain why this may help you and will support you in asking questions. You will usually receive written information about side effects and how best to cope with treatment. Finally, your team will ask you to sign a consent form once you have had the opportunity to decide this is right for you.