Dr. Kotecha on MR-Guided Radiotherapy in Lung Cancer

Rupesh Rajesh Kotecha, MD, chief, Radiosurgery, director, Central Nervous System Metastasis, Miami Cancer Institute, member, Baptist Health Group, member, Baptist Health Quality Network, discusses the use of magnetic resonance (MR)–guided radiotherapy in lung cancer.

Adverse effects associated with radiation therapy are typically confined to the treatment area, Kotecha says. Specifically regarding patients with lung cancer, damage to the lung following radiotherapy remains a primary concern, and preserving as much lung as possible remains the goal, Kotecha explains. These patients are considered high risk since they are generally inoperable or have comorbidities that may preclude surgery, Kotecha adds.

The use of MR-guided radiotherapy can help reduce damage to healthy parts of the lung around the tumor, when compared with radiation done with a computerized tomography (CT)–based approach, Kotecha notes. Since the position of the tumor changes when a patient breathes, CT-guided radiation is more likely to affect healthy tissue.

However, with MR-guided radiation therapy, the smaller radiation beam is activated only when the tumor moves within its range, allowing for a more targeted approach, Kotecha concludes.