Several lung cancer patients survive with high-dose therapy

Researchers in Trondheim have found a treatment method that allows more lung cancer patients to live longer without having more side effects.

The increased radiation dose can be of great benefit to patients with small cell lung cancer with limited spread. Almost only smokers get small cell lung cancer, and there is a high risk of dying from the disease.

In one study, the researchers increased the dose given in radiotherapy. One group of patients received standard radiation therapy for three weeks, while the other received treatment for four weeks and thus a higher dose, writes Adresseavisen.

In the high-dose group, 73 percent of patients were alive after two years, compared to 46 percent in the group receiving standard treatment. A total of 160 patients participated in the study.

– “It’s very good, unexpectedly good actually. I can’t remember anything similar,” says cancer doctor and researcher Bjørn Henning Grønberg at St. Olav and NTNU, who has led the study.

The findings were presented at the world’s largest cancer conference on Friday.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today