Researchers from the Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group (TROG) have launched the international SAFRON II trial, to investigate whether an emerging radiotherapy technique can result in long-term survival for lung cancer patients. SAFRON II trial participants will receive a new form of cancer treatment called Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy (SABR), to tumours that have limited spread from the primary to the lung.
Lead researcher, Dr Shankar Siva, said the aim of the trial was to quantify the benefit of SABR in patients with secondary tumours spread to the lung, measure the cost-effectiveness of the treatment and understand the patient’s experience and quality of life after treatment.
“Currently patients with cancer that has spread from the primary to the lung are not expected to have a long-term survival. Patients are typically treated with chemotherapy or other systematic drugs without expectation for cure,” Dr Siva said.
“SABR offers the opportunity to eradicate these secondaries in the lung, and may offer the potential for long-term disease control. This is particularly important in those patients who are not suitable for more invasive treatments like surgery.
“In general, we expect SABR to be highly effective at controlling cancer – approximately 90% successful. It is non-invasive and delivered as an outpatient visit in as little as a single treatment or as four treatments as part of this trial.
“We expect the rate of side-effects to be relatively low in the short term. Additionally, we suspect that SABR may be able to assist in kick-starting the patient’s immune system into fighting any remaining cancer cells, and we aim to investigate this possible effect as part of the trial.”
In the future, it is hoped that stereotactic radiotherapy treatment will be made available as an alternative to removing lung tumours by surgery, or given to those patients who are unable to have surgery.
The randomised, phase II trial has opened at a number of hospitals in Australia and New Zealand this month, with researchers hoping to recruit close to 100 patients to the study over the next three years, and results to become available in five years.
SAFRON II is being conducted and sponsored by TROG Cancer Research, one of the largest cancer clinical trials groups in Australia and New Zealand.
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