New study re: shorter radiation schedule + positioning

lisettemac

Anyone see this article in the NYTimes about a new study finding that a shorter course of radiation therapy could be just as effective as the current standard of care?  The article also talks about positioning women on their stomachs (rather than backs) during radiation in order to limit the amount of radiation going to heart/lungs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/health/research/23canc.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin

Did anyone who got radiation to their left breast use this positioning?  I wish my radiation onc had done this since I also got A/C chemo and herceptin -- both of which can cause heart damage.

jea1013

I did see this article, and it is very interesting!  Regarding the positioning on the stomach, I wondered whether they were taking into consideration the fact that so many rad oncs are now using the newer forms of radiation--either CD Conformal or IMRT, which are both designed to spare the heart and lungs.  If I'm remembering correctly, the article didn't discuss this, and I wonder why not. 

rock

For what it's worth, I'm having the prone, Canadian fractionalization course of rads as well as IMRT.  (Dr. McC, quoted in the article, is my rads onco.) I had part one of the simulation last week; the dry-run is this Friday. If you have questions, post them here and maybe I can get some answers.

sharonw

I did the prone 15 treatments as described at NYU with Dr. Silvia Formenti this past May - I was desperate to find any facility in the DC area that would do this and could not find a single one - I can tell you this - this type of rads is the leading edge rads treatment for early BC women - I traveled from DC for three weeks to get treated there and came through with no burns and lots of energy - the rads were IMRT, but the "traditional" position of on the back will virtually always "nick" your lung or ribs or heart - the prone position eliminates this - also, there is now 12 years of data that shows 15 treatments are as effective as 33 - check out the NY Times article referenced in the above posting in this thread.

 It was truly an amazing experience in NYC and I am grateful to all of the docs and techs at NYU Cancer Center - the only body part that needed rads was my boob and that's they only part that received rads - please pass this on to other women researching rads treatments !

Sharon

dventi

Hi sharonw..  dont know if you are still on the thread.. but Im seroiusly thinking of doing the 15 treatments wieth Dr Formenti.. had a consult... Seems like  you were very pleased with results... How are you feeling and are you still glad you choose the 15 treatment option?