Radiation Oncology

Non-small cell lung cancer   

Questions discussed in this category



If CCRT is pursued, would you move forward with durvalumab consolidation? Assume the patient with ECOG PS 0 and no co-morbidities. How might this chan...

This post refers to the recently published RCT by Chang et al., PMID 37478883 investigating lung SBRT with vs. without 4 months of nivolumab for early...

E.g. esophagus? If you crop the esophagus out of the ITV, then your ITV would not fully encompass the iGTV. 

Specifically in O2-dependent patients? Have any dose/fractionation regimens been shown to reduce the risk of pneumonitis in this population?

The left breast cancer is an ER-negative, PR-negative, HER2-negative cT2N0 invasive ductal carcinoma, while the left lung primary is a cT2N1 squamous ...

Would you consider treating with conventional fractionation to the entire staple line with a boost to the gross disease?

Is there a minimum standard for which stations to sample? Does lymph node size affect your recommendations?

I see the LungTECH trial dose constraints, but, they seem really conservative when you have something large and close the PBT resulting in use of 60 G...

How does your approach change for same lung but now a different lobe v. different lung? How do you adjust your constraints?

For example, would you modify your SBRT dose next to the azygous vein? While we talk frequently about OAR constraints for the great vessels, it seems ...

Do the results of the unplanned subset analysis of the PACIFIC trial showing no OS benefit in this population lean you away from consolidation?

If a patient clearly has N1 disease with high SUV on PET, do you routinely recommend EBUS or mediastinoscopy to evaluate for N2 disease?

I recently saw a patient who had been treated with concurrent pembrolizumab-RT elsewhere. Is this an acceptable practice outside the setting of a clin...

How do you balance the risk of an EGFR flare while holding osimertinib vs the risk of pneumonitis when continuing?

E.g. for a 7cm central NSCLC, would you offer 8 fx SBRT or ChemoRT? Patient is not a surgical candidate.

Would you test for resistance mutations in this setting, using blood-based sample if no progression outside CNS?

How do you prescribe a steroid taper? If it is grade 2, would you keep them on low dose prednisone while continuing? When do you feel comfortable re-c...

Does tumor location play a role (central vs peripheral) in making the decision?  The question stems from an oral presentation at ASTRO 2014 inves...

In patients who have a mixed response or progression and are poor candidates for other systemic agents, would you consider consolidating the chest? Wo...

NCCN recommends annual CT surveillance indefinitely after year 5, but I’m curious how many physicians continue and for how long?

Do you recommend or make any modifications in the PACIFIC regimen for patients > 75 years of age?

In clinical practice, consolidation chemotherapy is sometimes used, though this was not implemented in the PACIFIC trial.Antonia et al., PMID 28885881...

Rate of pneumonitis was low in the PACIFIC trial but does it mirror the real world setting? We are seeing increased pneumonitis in our practice.

Do you feel it is important to start durvalumab within 14 days of completing cCRT?  What real life challenges do you face in doing so and wh...

Medical inoperability is clearly defined, anatomical resectability is also pretty much clear (invasion of trachea/carina/esophagus, etc). But what abo...

If you are using a standard 30/10 fractionation, is there a benefit to keeping chemo on board for radio-sensitization?

I am treating a left lower lobe NSCLC and my PTV is so close to the spleen that a small portion of the spleen is getting significant dose.  I can...

As a for instance, a centrally located primary tumor with mediastinal adenopathy that results in a TE fistula? Currently we would recommend esophagea...

What would you anticipate with regard to potential adrenal toxicity when the patient has only 1 functioning adrenal gland? There are no other sites of...

Does EGFR+ status influence your decision? What is the significance of this finding and its potential for progression? Is it simply occult disease con...

Since the randomized phase II data from Gomez et al presented at ASTRO 2018 showed a survival benefit, is there concern about randomizing patients to ...

Does it factor into your decision making in the setting of restricted spirometry and normal lung volumes? Does this differ for SBRT v. chemoRT?

If there is no other evidence of metastatic disease, would you offer thoracic radiation? Either upfront with chemo or after initial system therapy if ...

Would your answer differ based on whether the patient is receiving concurrent chemotherapy? Are there other factors that would influence this decision...

Do you prefer breath-hold techniques (ABC, DIBH) or abdominal compression regardless of tumor motion? Or do you use a general threshold number of cc's...

In a patient with a cavitated lesion with underlying chronic infection (identified as cocci) and SqCC, are there additional risks to SBRT? Should spec...

In patients with aberrant anatomy due to previous surgery with lung PTV overlapping the stomach, how much would you dose de-escalate? Even conventiona...

If so, what constraint is most clinically relevant? The EORTC LungTech trial (60Gy/8 fractions) does not specify a chest wall constraint. I have...

For example, would a + vascular margin, extranodal extension of N1 disease, translobar disease, or high risk histologies (large cell neuroendocrine, s...

Do you discuss this at the first consultation? Is there strong evidence to suggest that risks are significantly increased compared to upfront lobectom...

Do you prefer carboplatin-paclitaxel-bevacizumab, carboplatin-pemetrexed-pembrolizumab, or chemotherapy alone?

Is local control worse for SBRT when the tumor is invading into the bone (rib)?

For example, a NSCLC of the LLL abutting and potentially involving the adventitia of the descending aorta?

For a patient with a new contralateral primary or recurrence and previous pneumonectomy, what lung constraints do you prioritize (ex mean lung dose, V...

When would you favor delivering local therapy (e.g. SBRT) prior to systemic therapy?

If you treat pre-chemotherapy volumes, is there a benefit to induction chemotherapy even in bulky disease. If so, how do you define disease that ...

What factors influence your decision (R1 v. R2 resection? T stage?) If sequential, do you typically prefer radiation before or after chemotherapy?

Is there a role for SBRT to the primary site? Is it required to treat the ipsilateral hilum if no adenopathy was seen on EBUS or PET?

Have you ever seen toxicity related to diaphragm dose with conventional fractionation?  


Papers discussed in this category


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Clinical lung cancer, 2016-11

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