New Study Questions Controversial Lung Cancer Treatment

A recent study is questioning a controversial radiation treatment for lung cancer, that may not benefit the life expectancy of a cancer patient.

The treatment, Postoperative radiotherapy (PORT), according to U.S. researchers, may not help increase the life span of elderly patients, said Reuters Health. PORT is believed to help minimize the likelihood of a tumor returning, but the treatment can cause heart and lung damage, which could negate possible benefits, especially in senior patients, noted Reuters Health.

The new study appears in the journal Cancer.  And by using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry linked to Medicare records, 1307 patients were identified who had stage III NSCLC with N2 lymph node involvement diagnosed between 1992 and 2005. Propensity scoring methods and instrumental variable analysis were used to compare the survival of patients who did and did not receive PORT after controlling for selection bias.

To continue reading New Study Questions Controversial Lung Cancer Treatment