Palliative effectiveness of radiation therapy in the treatment of superior vena cava syndrome.
Bull Cancer Radiother
; 83(3): 153-7, 1996.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-8977565
ABSTRACT
A study was made of 34 patients concerning the palliation effect of radiation therapy in the treatment of superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS). They were seen between 1986-1993, at the Department of Radiotherapy in Middelheim General Hospital, Belgium, Antwerp. All patients had a syndrome of superior vena cava obstruction secondary to malignancy. The histologic diagnosis delivered an equal distribution of small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) and non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). All patients with a SCLC received chemotherapy as initial treatment, but showed no response, relapse or evolution during treatment. Each treatment began with rapid-high dose irradiation, to continue after re-evaluation with rapid high-dose in cases of poor response or with the conventional fractionation of 2 Gy daily in patients showing good relief of symptoms. The initial rapid-high dose schedules depended on the performance status of the patients. Seventy-six percent of the patients with NSCLC showed good relief of their symptoms. It was very unexpected but the majority of NSCLC patients responded more quickly than SCLC patients, within three days after initiating treatment. In SCLC, 94% of the patients responded up until death. The palliation index defined as the ratio of the symptom-free period on the total survival which is 1 in ideal circumstances, was 0.55 in NSCLC and 0.90 in SCLC. In this last group, death was mainly due to disease progression in distant sites.
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Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Síndrome de la Vena Cava Superior
/
Carcinoma de Células Pequeñas
/
Carcinoma de Pulmón de Células no Pequeñas
/
Neoplasias Pulmonares
Tipo de estudio:
Etiology_studies
Aspecto:
Patient_preference
Límite:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Bull Cancer Radiother
Asunto de la revista:
NEOPLASIAS
Año:
1996
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Bélgica
Pais de publicación:
FR
/
FRANCE
/
FRANCIA
/
FRANÇA