How important is a severely diminished diffusion capacity in determining whether to offer a lung cancer patient radiotherapy?
Does it factor into your decision making in the setting of restricted spirometry and normal lung volumes? Does this differ for SBRT v. chemoRT?
1 Answer
Mednet MemberInvited Expert
Radiation Oncology · Cleveland Clinic
Answered on
Conventionally, Pulmonary function tests (PFTs) are considered essential before considering thoracic surgery and by extension this rule has applied to definitive radiation. This is because baseline pulmonary function (PF) can predict the risk of pulmonary complications after thoracotomy, and patient...
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