Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

lungs via shutterstock

New treatment could drop recurrence by half for some lung cancer sufferers

A new radiation treatment could lengthen the lives of those suffering from small-cell lung cancer.

A NEW TREATMENT involving radiotherapy could see the lives of some lung cancer patients extended.

The new treatment makes advances to treatment of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) with thoracic (chest) radiation treatment.

The treatment, when used alongside standard methods, has been found to prolong long-term survival and reduce recurrence by almost 50%.

SCLC is an aggressive form of cancer and accounts for around 13% of all lung cancer cases.

The majority of patients who present with the aggressive disease find that it has spread to other areas of the body.

On the findings, Professor of Radiation Oncology Ben Slotman said, “Survival for patients with extensive disease remains poor (2-year survival of less than 5%) and the likelihood of the cancer recurring and spreading to other parts of the body remains high.”

The study involved research on 498 adult patients who were already responding to chemotherapy. The subjects were taken from the Netherlands, the UK, Norway and Belgium.

It was found that after two years 13% of patients treated with the thoracic radiotherapy treatment were alive compared to 3% of those given the standard follow up.

In terms of redeveloping the cancer, only 20% of patients treated with the radiotherapy treatment saw the cancer come back, while 46% of those who did not receive the treatment saw a recurrence.

Patients receiving the treatment did not experience toxic effects like fatigue or shortness of breath.

The authors of the paper propose that should the thoracic radiotherapy be well tolerated it should be offered extensively to sufferers of SCLC whose cancer responds to chemotherapy. 

This new research was carried out in the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The study was published this week in The Lancet and is being presented simultaneously at American cancer awareness group ASTRO’s 2014 annual meeting in San Francisco.

Read: 7 things every Irish man should know about cancer

Also: Irish charity to look at how aspirin could help breast cancer patients

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
13 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute karla carroll
    Favourite karla carroll
    Report
    Sep 26th 2012, 2:09 PM

    Poor kid,

    I hope they find some DNA evidence.

    93
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mark Noonan
    Favourite Mark Noonan
    Report
    Sep 26th 2012, 3:29 PM

    Murderer should be hung or given lethal injection . Defenceless child like that,unbelievable someone cud do such a thing

    51
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Deirdre Bennett
    Favourite Deirdre Bennett
    Report
    Sep 26th 2012, 5:22 PM

    Just looking at his little face breaks my heart. There is evil in the world, I hope they find the real culprit.

    47
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Michele Kealy
    Favourite Michele Kealy
    Report
    Sep 26th 2012, 3:50 PM

    even back than ,children were not that safe …hope DNA results proves some light on his evil killer …poor mite

    42
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Kal Ipers
    Favourite Kal Ipers
    Report
    Sep 27th 2012, 4:06 PM

    What! Back then? You can keep going back a long time and realise that it ain’t new.
    Children are actually in more danger due to over protection. Obesity will kill more as will car crashes as people keep their children safe.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Debi-Nikita Rathbone-Rentzke
    Favourite Debi-Nikita Rathbone-Rentzke
    Report
    Sep 26th 2012, 10:50 PM

    The wheel of life always turns…you can run, but you can’t hide, it all catches up to one, one way or another.

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Kathleen McGuinness
    Favourite Kathleen McGuinness
    Report
    Sep 27th 2012, 2:40 PM

    Just hope with this new DNA that this brute is caught, imagine tying up this poor wee fellow and him possibly crying for his Mum and Dad, how can he possibly live with himself.

    1
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds