Session A1
6056
Disclaimer — This paper partially fulfills a writing requirement for first year (freshman) engineering students at the
University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. This paper is a student, not a professional, paper. This paper
is based on publicly available information and may not be provide complete analyses of all relevant data. If this paper is used
for any purpose other than these authors’ partial fulfillment of a writing requirement for first year (freshman)
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THE USE OF STEREOTACTIC BODY RADIATION THERAPY FOR THE
TREATMENT OF PRIMARY NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER
Brett Graver, Bag60@pitt.edu, Vidic 2:00, Brendan Lestander, bel53@pitt.edu, Vidic 2:0)
Revised Proposal - In the field of medicine, a wide variety of
treatment options are available for cancer patients, each with
varying degrees of success and downfalls. As the medical
field progresses, a need for a better treatment option is
demanded to treat cancer patients more effectively with less
side effects. One possible way to attack the issue is through
the use of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy, a noninvasive radiation treatment which utilizes precise three
dimensional imaging and localized radiation to locate, track,
and treat tumors in the body for multiple types of cancer.
Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) is an effective
and promising treatment for small tumors, specifically
primary non-small cell lung cancer.
Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy identifies tumors in
the lung and their movement throughout the patient’s
breathing cycle through mapping by diagnostic imaging with
a four dimensional CT scan [1]. Then, the map of the
tumor’s movement, created by the CT scans, is used to
program a linear accelerator to generate and direct high doses
of gamma radiation precisely to the lung tumor while
protecting nearby healthy tissue [2]. Stereotactic Body
Radiation Therapy allows for the treatment of tumors in the
lung in potentially dangerous positions with little to no side
effects due to low amounts of radiation damage to
surrounding healthy tissue. For example, a tumor in the lung
located near the heart or bronchus would be difficult to treat
with traditional radiation treatments and in turn may
compromise heart strength and breathing ability. Contrary,
Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy would be able to treat
the same tumor effectively with less damage to healthy cells.
Through Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy, non-small
cell lung cancer can be treated with greater success in a
shorter amount of time and with less risk when compared to
other available treatment options, due to the localization and
precision of the delivery of the gamma and x-ray radiation. In
today’s medical society, Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy
has between an eighty to ninety percent success rate in
treating cancer with fewer side effects than other treatment
options [1]. Further development of precision of monitoring
University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering 1
2016-1-29
and radiation delivery systems, such as those used in
Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy, will lead to greater
success and a more reliable treatment option for non-small
cell lung cancer patients.
Throughout the paper, the process of finding, mapping and
treating tumors through three dimensional imaging as well as
the medical devices used in the treatment will be expanded
upon through technical articles as well as full descriptions of
primary non-small lung cancer and the dangers of various
treatment options. This paper will build the credibility of
Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy through clinical study
data to convey the power of the treatment.
REFERENCES
[1] “FAQs: Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT).”
Radiation
Oncology
UCLA.
(Website).
http://radonc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=349
[2] “Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and Stereotactic Body
Radiotherapy (SBRT).” (2014). RadiologyInfo.org. (Online
Article).
http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=stereotactic
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
C. Brink, H. Jensen, O. Hansen, S. Jeppesen, T. Schytte.
(2013). “Stereotactic body radiation therapy versus
conventional radiation therapy in patients with early stage
non-small cell lung cancer: An updated retrospective study on
local failure and survival rates.” Acta Oncologica. (Article).
Vol. 52 Issue 7, p1552-1558
This article, published by a professional, peer-reviewed
journal specializing in cancer research and treatment, is a
report comparing stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT)
to conventional radiation treatment. It details the treatment of
100 medically inoperable patients by SBRT and 32 medically
inoperable patients by conventional radiation therapy. This
information will enable us to make a case for SBRT over
conventional radiation therapy.
Brett Graver
Brendan Lestander
treatment may include and to help resolve one of the
problems brought up by another article.
J. Contreras, J.M Larner, J.R Bowers, et al. (2015).
“Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) For Centrally
Located Primary and Recurrent Non-Small Cell Lung
Cancer: Analysis of Toxicity and Local Control.”
International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology,
Physics. (Article). Vol.93, Issue 3, pE418-E419
This article, published by a professional, peer-reviewed
journal specializing in radiotherapy, is a study that sought to
analyze the toxicity of stereotactic body radiation therapy. It
details the retrospective review of 115 tumors treated with
SBRT. It concludes that toxicity from SBRT is minimal and
no adverse effects relating to the treatment occur with the
majority of patients. This information will be important in
making the case that SBRT is safe.
C. Matthiesen, D. Thompson, I. Ali, O. Algan, T. Gunter.
(2014). “Gross tumour volume variations in primary nonsmall-cell lung cancer during the course of treatment with
stereotactic body radiation therapy.” Journal of Medical
Imaging & Radiation Oncology. (Article). Vol. 58, Issue 3
p384-391
This article, published by a professional, peer-reviewed
journal specializing in medical imaging and radiotherapy,
details a clinical study in which stereotactic body radiation
therapy (SBRT). In particular, the report focuses on the
effects of the treatment on tumor size, and concludes that
SBRT results in an initial increase, followed by an overall
decrease in tumor size. This information will be key in
demonstrating the effectiveness of SBRT.
“FAQs: Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT).”
Radiation
Oncology
UCLA.
(Website).
http://radonc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=349
This website, published by a university that conducts
stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), explains the
basics of SBRT, the differences between it and conventional
radiation therapy, and the reasons why someone would need
to undergo SBRT. It is intended to inform someone who
would need to undergo SBRT. The information from this
article is useful in presenting the SBRT as it would concern a
potential patient.
G. Marwaha, G. Videtic, et al. (2015). “Stereotactic Body
Radiation Therapy for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Tumors
Greater Than 5 cm: Safety and Efficacy.” International
Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics. (Article).
Vol. 92 Issue 2, p325-331
This article, published by a professional, peer-reviewed
journal specializing in radiotherapy, is a study to determine
the safety and efficacy of stereotactic body radiation therapy
(SBRT). Specifically, it details a survey of treated patients
for control of radiation, survival of disease-free cells, and
overall survival from their treatments by SBRT.
Its
conclusion that SBRT is safe and resulted in limited toxicity
will be important in proving that SBRT is a safe treatment
option.
B. Frass, B. Kavanagh, C. Miyamoto, et al. (2012). “Quality
and safety considerations in stereotactic radiosurgery and
stereotactic body radiation therapy: Executive summary.”
Practical
Radiation
Oncology.
(Online
Article).
http://www.practicalradonc.org/article/S18798500(11)00216-5/pdf
This article, published by a professional, peer-reviewed
journal specializing in radiotherapy, discusses problems of
patient safety with regard to stereotactic body radiation
therapy (SBRT). Specifically, it details problems with
personnel, technical issues, and quality assurance issue that
can cause harm to patients, as well as provides
recommendations for resolving them. This information will
be used to present some potential and some current problems
with this technology and its application.
“Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and Stereotactic Body
Radiotherapy (SBRT).” (2014). RadiologyInfo.org. (Online
Article).
http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=stereotactic
This website, published by a society of radiologists and
other medical professional, details the basics of stereotactic
body radiation therapy (SBRT), as well as equipment, the
procedure itself, and side effects. It is intended to inform
someone that will undergo SBRT about it and how it works.
This information will be useful in discussing what a patient
might undergo, as well as providing basic information to tie
the paper together.
J. Galvin, G. Bednarz. (2008) “Quality Assurance Practices
for Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy” International
Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics. (Article).
Vol. 71 Issue 1, pS122-S125
This article, published by a professional, peer-reviewed
journal specializing in radiotherapy, describes generic quality
assurance procedures that can be implemented to improve the
quality of treatment. It was written in response to the lack of
clearly defined procedures in the field currently. This
information will serve both to show what the future of this
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