About Radiation Therapy for Lung Cancer

Radiation therapy, sometimes referred to as radiotherapy, is a commonly used treatment for many forms of cancer, including lung cancer. For most lung cancer patients, a treatment plan will include radiation therapy, in addition to other treatment options such as chemotherapy and surgery. Only a physician can determine if radiation therapy is an appropriate treatment option for an individual's lung cancer.

The Facts

• Radiation therapy is the safe use of radiation to treat cancer. X-ray beams are pointed at the tumor and used to kill cancer cells in the area of the tumor while avoiding the surrounding healthy tissue.
  Radiation therapy is used to treat both non-small cell and small-cell lung cancer. These two types of lung cancer were named for how the cancer cells look under a microscope.
  Non-small cell lung cancer accounts for about 80% of all lung cancer cases. There are three types of non-small cell lung cancer: squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and large-cell carcinoma. The cancer cells in each of these sub-types are different sizes and have different chemical make ups.
  Non-small cell lung cancer is often treated with a combination of radiation therapy, surgery, and chemotherapy.
  Small-cell lung cancer accounts for roughly 20% of lung cancer cases and is almost also caused by smoking. The cancer cells are small, but multiply very quickly. Small- cell lung cancer is usually treated with radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

Type

• Two forms of radiation therapy are commonly used to treat lung cancer. External beam technique aims several radiation fields directly at the tumor and keeps radiation from healthy cells. This therapy is typically given over the course of numerous weeks instead of all at once. Breaking the therapy up into small doses over a longer period of time has been shown to cause fewer side effects.
  Three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy used a 3-D picture to aim a high-dose beam of radiation directly at the tumor. This beam adjusts to match the shape and size of the tumor. This technique minimizes the amount of radiation normal parts of the lung receive.
  A third form of radiation therapy called brachytherapy is sometime used to relieve sever symptoms of lung cancer, but has not been shown to cure cancer. In brachytherapy, radioactive seeds are implanted directly into the site of the tumor using a thin plastic tube. These seeds can be removed and reinserted as needed throughout the course of treatment.

Function

• Radiation therapy works by damaging cancer cells so that they are unable to multiply. The dead cancer cells are naturally removed by the human body. During this process, healthy cells can also be damaged, but these healthy cells are able to repair themselves after radiation treatment has ended.
  There are three main uses for radiation therapy to treat lung cancer. The first is as primary treatment for lung cancer, either alone or in conjunction with chemotherapy and surgery. The second is after surgery to rid the body of any remaining cancer cells. The third use is to treat lung cancer that has spread from the lungs to other parts of the body.

Benefits

• Benefits of lung cancer can include relief of lung cancer symptoms, shrinkage of the tumor, and cancer remission. Radiation therapy is especially beneficial for those who cannot undergo surgery due to heart failure or a need to be on blood thinning drugs. Surgery can also be dangerous to those who are elderly or have other chronic conditions. A final benefit of radiation therapy is that it often has less side effects than chemotherapy treatment. While loss of hair to the chest wall is common, patients do not lose the hair on their head or other areas of their body. Patients also experience less nausea during and after radiation therapy treatment as apposed to chemotherapy.

Risk Factors

• Radiation therapy has numerous risk factors associated with its use. Side-effects are experienced by the majority of people receiving treatment. The most common side-effect is fatigue. Fatigue normally begins after the first few sessions and worsen throughout the course of treatment.
  Other side-effects include temporary and permanent loss of hair on the chest wall, skin irritation, temporary loss of appetite, and inflammation of the esophagus called esophagitis. Radiation pneumonitis, which is an inflammation of the lungs, can occur three to nine months after the course of radiation therapy has ended.