%0 Journal Article
%T Advances in palliative radiotherapy of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer
%A Rakesh Kapoor
%A Vijai Simha
%J SCIE-indexed Journal
%D 2015
%R 10.21037/4965
%X Patients with metastatic lung cancer have a poor prognosis and the therapeutic options are limited. Controlling their symptoms and maintaining their quality of life should be the principle of treatment. The primary goal of treatment is to use the most effective and the least toxic regimen for the treatment. Radiotherapy has largely been used to palliate non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for this reason (1). Multiple prospective randomized trials using different dose or fractionation schedules have shown that palliative radiotherapy alleviate thoracic and extra-thoracic symptoms in patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC (1-3).Indications for thoracic radiation include hemoptysis, cough, chest pain, dyspnea, obstructive pneumonia, superior vena cava syndrome and hoarseness of voice. Indications for extra-thoracic radiation therapy were initially limited to brain and bone but has now widened to include adrenal abdominal lymph nodal, liver and re-irradiation for spinal metastases. In a comprehensive review by the Cochrane Collaboration (4), no significant difference among short compared to long radiotherapy regimens in terms of palliation and hypofractionated radiotherapy is the standard of care. The clinical picture and the performance status of the patients must dictate the treatment regimen. Short course and simple treatments must be generally preferred. Our typical palliative dose is 8 Gy in single fraction or 30 Gy in 10 fractions which is simple, well tolerated, efficient and comparable to other regimens (5,6)
%U http://tcr.amegroups.com/article/view/4965/html