papawolfe Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 I am wondering about radiation treatments. I read a lot of your posts and a lot of you get treatments twice a day. Why is it that mine are set-up for once a day and what determines this? I am very ernest in attacking this head on and do not want anything to cause a moment of lost time in which the beast can gain any better foothold than it already has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Wood Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 I am not sure where you saw twice a day radiation. The norm is once a day for so many days. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wenna Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 Hi papawolf! I know how you feel. I completed 34 treatments.. once a day 5 days a week. I did hear some had the twice a day treatments but was for other kinds of cancer. Can't remember which tho. It is standard to get them like I did. But, don't hestitate to ask the radiologist about it. Communication is one of the keys to beating this! You sound very determined and that is good! Don't let the doctors talk TO you.. make them talk WITH you! You got questions? Ask and get an answer that you can understand. Most doctors are more than willing to talk with you. And of course, ask anything you want here.. or just vent! Keep us posted and I will be praying for you.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berisa Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 found some articles said twice a day is better than once a day, really not sure about this. But, my dad received once a day and total received 16 times chest radiation only. When comparing to other members of this board, they normally got around 30 times radiation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bart ziggie ( Greg ) Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 Papa, this has been a debateable issue in the past. There are members here who have had twice daily radiation and done well with it. Actually Sam in some of his past responses has given the best explanation ive seen of the differance between once per day and twice. So if Sam is here anywhere he may be able to jump in and give more insight. My Dr. was totally against twice per day. I was interested. I had looked at some statistics that pointed toward better responses and outcomes with the twice per day. I think you should get some good responses from the board on this one. Whatever you decide on good luck in your further treatments. Keep us posted. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 I don't think getting more than one dose per day is currently standard treatment. There are some studies that suggest more than one dose per day is better when gven with chemo. I personally would ask about amifostine (ethyol). This may help protect against some of the side effects of radiation "..... Hyperfractionated Radiotherapy. Hyperfractionated radiotherapy administers smaller than standard doses a number of times a day (usually two or three). This allows a higher cumulative dose over the whole course of treatment. It is not as useful as sole therapy, however; it needs to be combined with chemotherapy to have any survival benefits. Hyperfractionated Accelerated Radiotherapy. Continuous hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy (CHART) administers multiple doses per day but uses standard levels. This allows the total dose of radiation to be administered over a shorter time period than the standard six weeks. CHART is proving to extend two-year survival of patients with localized cancer over that of standard radiotherapy or non-accelerated hyperfractionated radiation. Though it causes more severe swallowing problems than does standard radiotherapy, a modification in which treatment is suspended for two days out of seven may help reduce this effect. ...." WCLC: Hyperfractionated Accelerated Radiotherapy Extends Medium Survival in Unresectable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer By Patrice Olson VANCOUVER, BC -- August 21, 2003 -- Induction chemotherapy followed by hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy (HART) significantly extends medium survival over standard thoracic radiotherapy in patients with unresectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to phase III study results. Dr. Chandra Belani, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pennsylvania, and multi-centre colleagues compared HART with standard thoracic radiotherapy following 2 cycles of induction chemotherapy in patients with unresectable stage IIIA and IIIB NSCLC. Dr. Belani presented the findings at the 10th World Conference on Lung Cancer, held here Aug. 10th-14th ....." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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