About Lung Cancers

Causes & Risk Factors

Diagnosis & Staging

Know the Symptoms

Meet Our Team

Research & Clinical Trials

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Treatment Options

Chemotherapy

Radiation

Radiofrequency Ablation

Surgery

Your First Appointment

Radiation therapy, also known as radiation oncology, provides the most advanced techniques available to treat lung cancer.  A multi-step process, radiation therapy begins with your consultation, followed by a “simulation,” visit, where your radiation oncologist precisely outlines the area in your body that needs to be treated, and, together with the medical physicist and dosimetrist, generates your treatment plan.  Once your treatment plan is finalized, you will begin therapy.

Respiratory Gating

Depending upon your diagnosis and the stage of your cancer, you may be a candidate for respiratory gated stereotactic body radiotherapy.  Once radiation oncologists determine the precise location of your tumor, they must then factor in the movement that occurs as you breathe.  Using a technique called respiratory gating, the specialists can treat the tumor in a phase of breathing that will minimize damage to your surrounding normal tissue.  Respiratory gating provides high doses of treatment to the tumor while sparing as much normal tissue as possible.  In addition, patients require fewer treatments than required for older radiation techniques.

Brachytherapy

Another unique option is endobronchial high-dose brachytherapy, provided by both a radiation oncologist and a pulmonologist (lung specialist).  If the tumor is confined to the bronchial tree (the tube that connects your trachea, or windpipe, to your lungs), the physicians insert a catheter in the bronchus, then insert radioactive sources inside the body, close to the tumor.  

In many cases, radiation therapy is combined with chemotherapy.