A new clinical trial for patients with non-resectable stage IIIA or IIIB non-small cell lung cancer is set to accrue patients at the Robert & Carol Weissman Cancer Center. The trial is provided by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG). Currently, standard radiation for this diagnosis is given five times a week for six weeks. The experimental portion of radiation therapy will be carried out over seven and a half weeks at a higher dose.
Patients will receive chemotherapy at the same time as radiation, followed by two more cycles of chemotherapy when radiation is completed. Since these stages of lung cancer are likely to be treated with radiation and chemotherapy rather than surgery, better control of lung cancer tumors is needed. According to RTOG, the primary objective of this study is “to compare the overall survival of patients treated with high-dose versus standard-dose conformal radiation therapy in the setting of concurrent chemotherapy”. To qualify for the trial, patients must be diagnosed with stage IIIA or IIIB non-small cell lung cancer that has not been surgically resected. Patients must not have had chemotherapy or prior chest/neck radiotherapy for their present cancer. Also, patients must not have had an invasive cancer, unless they are disease free for three years prior to this diagnosis. There are many other inclusion/exclusion criteria for this study. For information on this or other clinical trials, contact the research department at the Robert and Carol Weissman Cancer Center at (772) 223-5945, ext. 1669. A Research Coordinator will screen patients for eligibility. There are additional trials available for lung cancer; including a vaccine trial for stage IB-IIIA, surgically resected non-small cell lung cancer patients.
