Lung cancer is a common cancer. The current standard of care for treatment of early lung cancer is to perform an operation and remove it. Some patients with early lung cancers cannot have their tumor removed surgically due to other medical problems and these patients may now be offered Stereotactic Radiation therapy. A team consisting of a surgeon, radiation oncologist, and a medical physicist will decide whether this is an appropriate treatment option for each patient.

How TomoTherapy treats lung tumors

Patients will undergo a planning CT scan in a special body immobilization system that will hold them very still. The tumor and normal tissues will be outlined and the physicians will prescribe a radiation dose to the tumor. The computer cluster will then calculate the optimal way to deliver the radiation. Next, the patient will be positioned on the Helical TomoTherapy unit in the same customized immobilization system and a final CT scan will be obtained to localize the tumor. Fine adjustments will be made to make sure that the patient is accurately positioned and then the patient will be treated. Once the patient is properly positioned, the treatments will take between 20 to 40 minutes. In general, one to five treatments will be given over a week.

Who is a candidate

Patients with one to three lung tumors who cannot have the tumors surgically removed for technical or medical reasons.