Personalized radiation therapy (PRT) for lung cancer

Abstract

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016. This chapter reviews and discusses approaches and strategies of personalized radiation therapy (PRT) for lung cancers at four different levels: (1) clinically established PRT based on a patient’s histology, stage, tumor volume and tumor locations; (2) personalized adaptive radiation therapy (RT) based on image response during treatment; (3) PRT based on biomarkers; (4) personalized fractionation schedule. The current RT practice for lung cancer is partially individualized according to tumor histology, stage, size/location, and combination with use of systemic therapy. During-RT PET-CT image guided adaptive treatment is being tested in a multicenter trial. Treatment response detected by the during-RT images may also provide a strategy to further personalize the remaining treatment. Research on biomarker-guided PRT is ongoing. The biomarkers include genomics, proteomics, microRNA, cytokines, metabolomics from tumor and blood samples, and radiomics from PET, CT, SPECT images. Finally, RT fractionation schedule may also be personalized to each individual patient to maximize therapeutic gain. Future PRT should be based on comprehensive considerations of knowledge acquired from all these levels, as well as consideration of the societal value such as cost and effectiveness.