FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 20, 2009 |
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CONTACT: |
Karen Mallet
215-514-9751
km463@georgetown.edu
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Georgetown Study Suggests Radiosurgery with CyberKnife May Offer Equivalent Outcomes to Surgery For Early-Stage Lung Cancer Patients
CyberKnife Considered Ideal Option for Patients Unable to Have Surgery
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Washington, DC – Lung cancer patients who received radiation delivered with the precision of CyberKnife had early results comparable with those who had surgery, according to researchers at Georgetown’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. The findings are the result of a small, single-institution study designed for patients diagnosed with small tumors for whom surgery was not possible. The study was funded by a grant from the CyberKnife Society.
“This means that CyberKnife is a favorable option for people with early-stage lung cancer who are unable to have surgery to remove their tumor,” says radiation oncologist Brian Collins, MD, a researcher at Lombardi, and director of the Thoracic CyberKnife program at Georgetown University Hospital.
“Surgery is the standard of care and the most effective method used to treat early stage lung cancer,” explains Collins. “Those patients often do very well. But lung surgery can be tough on the elderly and people with other major health problems. For them, our study suggests that CyberKnife radiation might be as effective in eradicating their tumors as surgery.”
For the Georgetown study, 20 early-stage lung cancer patients who were not candidates for surgery were enrolled. All received radiation with CyberKnife and have been followed for an average of 2 years. “Our two-year survival rate at this point is at 88 percent which is equivalent to surgical outcomes,” says Dr. Collins.
Collins’ study was published in the January 17, 2009 issue of Journal of Hematology & Oncology.
CyberKnife is a non-surgical robotic system that delivers hundreds of precisely focused radiation beams to a tumor without damaging surrounding tissues or organs. Up until now, targeting lung tumors with standard radiation has been extremely difficult because the lung (and the tumor) moves when the patient breathes. The tumor was, in essence, a moving target difficult to irradiate accurately. Now, using CyberKnife, physicians are able to target the tumor and program the technology to track the tumor while it is in motion.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths with more than 215,020 people diagnosed each year and 161,804 dying of the disease, according to the American Cancer Society. While there is no screening test for lung cancer that would allow doctors to find the disease in its earliest, most curable stage, some tumors are found early because of medical tests being done for other reasons.
“Historically, radiation therapy hasn’t been a favored option for these patients because we lacked the technology to deliver the necessary high dose of radiation to treat and cure the tumor,” explains Collins. “For us at Georgetown, the precision and sophistication offered by CyberKnife has changed that paradigm.
“Someday soon, we envision CyberKnife radiation as an alternative option to surgery for early stage lung cancer. Because surgery is life-threatening, can be painful, and may decrease lung function, radiation with CyberKnife might one day become a more appealing choice.”
Collins says the data are still immature, but at the very least, the study demonstrates a new option for those with early-stage disease for whom surgery is not an option.
In addition to funding from the CyberKnife Society, the authors report receiving honorarium and were paid for clinical consulting by ACCURAY, the maker of the CyberKnife.
About Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
The Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of Georgetown University Medical Center and Georgetown University Hospital, seeks to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer through innovative basic and clinical research, patient care, community education and outreach, and the training of cancer specialists of the future. Lombardi is one of only 41 comprehensive cancer centers in the nation, as designated by the National Cancer Institute, and the only one in the Washington, DC, area. For more information, go to http://lombardi.georgetown.edu.
About Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through our partnership with MedStar Health). Our mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis -- or "care of the whole person." The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing and Health Studies, both nationally ranked, the world-renowned Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization (BGRO), home to 60 percent of the university’s sponsored research funding.
Georgetown University Hospital is a not-for-profit, acute care teaching and research hospital with 609 beds located in Northwest Washington, D.C. Founded in the Jesuit principle of cura personalis - caring for the whole person - Georgetown is committed to offering a variety of innovative diagnostic and treatment options within a trusting and compassionate environment.
Georgetown’s centers of excellence include cancer, neurosciences, gastroenterology, transplant and vascular diseases. Along with Magnet nurses, internationally recognized physicians, advanced research and cutting-edge technologies, Georgetown’s healthcare professionals have a reputation of medical excellence and leadership. Georgetown University Hospital is a proud member of MedStar Health.
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