Innovative lung cancer treatment shows promising results Physician named to national board

DATE RELEASED: 11/20/07

Innovative lung cancer treatment shows promising results

Physician named to national board

Tulsa, OK – November 14, 2007. Preliminary results of a new combination therapy for the treatment of advanced-stage lung cancer are showing promise, says Dr. Daniel Nader, DO, FCCP, national clinical director of pulmonary/critical care at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) in Tulsa. The innovative procedure, only being conducted in Tulsa, combines radiation therapy with intratumoral chemotherapy that is injected directly into lung tumors. The chemotherapy makes the tumor more sensitive to High Dose Rate (HDR) Brachytherapy, the second portion of the treatment plan.

Dr. Nader, who serves as principal investigator of the clinical trial, presented an abstract of the study at the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) and the Scientific Presentation and Awards Committee on October 23 in Chicago, IL. While at the annual ACCP meeting, Dr. Nader was named Oklahoma Governor of the ACCP. In this role, he will serve as an important link between the cardiopulmonary community in Oklahoma and the national body.

Advanced-stage lung tumors can grow and block the airways of the lungs. Patients with tumor-obstructed airways often fight fatigue and continual shortness of breath, which negatively impacts quality of life. Preliminary treatment results are showing complete obliteration of the tumor and no reoccurrence at the initial site in some patients who have stage IIIB or stage IV lung cancer with a tumor, located inside the bronchial tubes, that is blocking 75 percent of the airway.

For 60-year-old Shawnee, OK resident and CTCA lung cancer patient Bob Dixon, the clinical trial represents real hope. “For the past three years I have had pneumonia and couldn’t breathe well, was tired all the time and couldn’t sleep,” said Bob, who was diagnosed with an advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer with a tumor mass that was blocking off two-thirds of this lung. “After my second treatment from Dr. Nader, I could breathe better, I had more energy and I could sleep without coughing all the time.”

Bob’s wife of 39 years, Brenda, also noticed a difference in her husband. “You could definitely tell that he felt better—his skin color was better, he was sleeping through the night and his appetite came back.”

“Since undergoing treatment at CTCA, my tumor mass has shrunk to 3 millimeters,” added Bob. Besides the intratumoral chemotherapy clinical trial, Bob’s treatment at CTCA includes TomoTherapy® HI-ART, a radiation therapy that combines an advanced form of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) with CT scanning technology to target and treat tumors in hard-to-reach areas, as well as nutritional and naturopathic support.

CTCA in Tulsa began the patient-focused intratumoral chemotherapy clinical trial in the fall of 2005. To date, treatment has been effective in reducing tumor size, while showing limited toxicity, and improving patients’ quality of life. Thirteen patients have been followed during their treatment protocol. The study is still accepting patients.

“This combination treatment plan could lead to the increased effectiveness of brachytherapy,” said Nader, a national leader in lung brachytherapy, who has performed over 1,350 lung brachytherapy procedures for 357 patients at CTCA since 1999. Brachytherapy is a type of internal radiation therapy that uses a computer to automatically deliver a tiny, radioactive seed through a catheter directly to the tumor. Because brachytherapy precisely targets cancer cells, there is less damage to normal cells and therefore it generally causes fewer and less serious side effects than conventional external beam radiotherapy.

“Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Oklahoma and the leading cause of cancer deaths for both men and women in Oklahoma,” said Nader. “Our study of patients is only being conducted in Tulsa, but the potential life-altering impact on patients with endobronchial disease could be happening across the United States and beyond.”