UCLA Journal of Radiation Oncology Issue 4 - Flipbook - Page 22
UCLA RADIATION ONCOLOGY JOURNAL
OPTIMAL TREATMENT
FOR STAGE I LUNG CANCER
“This may be one of the most difficult and most
important clinical trials in lung cancer"
A
clinical trial comparing treatments
for stage 1 lung cancer, the largest
lung cancer treatment study ever, has
enrolled its 200th participant.
Both procedures take three to five days to
complete, whether a patient comes into the
hospital for surgery or radiation treatment.
Because surgical treatment samples lymph
nodes, it can reveal whether the cancer has
spread, Dr. Moghanaki says. With SBRT, the
diagnosis of spread to the lymph nodes would
be identified through follow-up scans.
The Veterans Affairs Lung Cancer Surgery or
Stereotactic Radiotherapy (VALOR) trial aims
to discover whether traditional lung-resection
surgery or Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy
(SBRT) is best for treating stage 1 non-small
cell lung cancer.
“It’s unclear whether knowing earlier can make
a difference,” he says.
“This may be one of the most difficult and most
important clinical trials in lung cancer,” says
study co-chair Drew Moghanaki, MD, MPH,
Chief of Thoracic Oncology in the Radiation
Oncology Department at UCLA Health. “We
feel that the data from this study will inform
practice for many decades to come as new
treatments continue to be discovered that can
be combined with either surgery or radiation.”
The VALOR study, which is recruiting 670
veterans with lung cancer, is the first to
compare surgery and SBRT survival outcomes,
pulmonary function, and patient quality of life.
Participants are randomly assigned to receive
either surgery or radiation treatment and will
be followed for a minimum of five years after
treatment.
The difference between the two
People with a stage 1 lung cancer diagnosis
who aren’t participating in the trial could
choose between surgery or SBRT.
Surgery has long been standard care for the
treatment of lung cancer, but SBRT has also
shown promising results, says Dr. Moghanaki,
who also directs care and research for patients
with lung cancer at the Greater Los Angeles
Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Sponsored by the VA Cooperative Studies
Program, the study opened at six sites in 2017
and has expanded to 21 sites to date.
“These treatments are very similar. They just
have different journeys,” he says.
Dr. Moghanaki credits the recruitment success
to “helping people understand the value of
enrolling in a clinical research study” and the
22
