Much shorter radiation treatment found to be safe, effective for people with soft tissue sarcoma

In this study at UCLA, a national leader in the care of patients with sarcoma, researchers used a condensed five-day radiation regimen that considerably cuts down the length of treatment and the time to surgery.“Shortening the radiation therapy from five weeks to five days has been a very meaningful change for patients,” said lead author Dr. Anusha Kalbasi, assistant professor of radiation oncology in the division of molecular and cellular oncology. “Five weeks of daily treatments is a burdensome com mitment for patients. The daily back-and-forth can be expensive and time consuming, and it can really interfere with work, school or parenting. So finding a way to safely shorten the radiation treatment is a significant advancement in improving the quality of care for patients with hard-to-treat can cers like sarcoma.”Researchers enrolled 52 adults at UCLA diagnosed with a soft tissue sarcoma of the limbs or trunk — where these tumors most commonly occur — that was localized and had not spread to other parts of the body. The participants underwent a condensed form of radiation therapy for five days, followed by surgery. The team then analyzed and followed the cohort for an average of 2 1/2 years.They found less than 6% of the patients with at least two years of follow-up on the clinical trial had a recurrence of their tumor, which is on par with studies using the conventional five-week regimen, Kalbasi said.“The main reason we treat sarcoma patients with radiation b...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news