Research Study Will Compare Two Treatments for Lung Cancer

yyy60 on the IV MB:

>>Research Study Will Compare Two Treatments for Lung Cancer

Saint Louis University Is the Only Local Research Site to Participate In the Phase III Trial

SAINT LOUIS - Saint Louis University researchers are participating in a clinical trial comparing two standard treatments for early-stage NSCLC (Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer), the most common form of lung cancer.

The STARS (Stereotactic Radiosurgery vs. Surgery) trial will compare the three-year survival rate of patients who undergo a lobectomy, a surgical procedure to remove the tumor, versus CyberKnife treatment, a unique stereotactic body radiotherapy technique that precisely tracks and focuses the radiation on the tumor.

"Surgery is the current gold standard treatment for Stage I NSCLC. However, there are research reports that describe similar survival rates of operable patients treated with the CyberKnife," said John Dombrowski, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of radiation oncology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

"The STARS trial is a large, multicenter Phase III clinical trial that will allow us to definitively say which treatment is better for these patients."

Saint Louis University Hospital is the only local hospital to own and operate a CyberKnife and is the only medical center in the region to participate in the STARS clinical trial, which is led by M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas and sponsored by Accuray Inc., which manufactures the CyberKnife.