I've been wanting to post about this for awhile, and I figured now was as good of a time as any, to give us a bit of a break from...(gestures broadly around).
So, with no further ado, what do you consider your greatest clinical success(es)? Here's one of mine which I've found interesting:
73 year-old I saw first in 2012 for SBRT for Stage I NSCLC. COPD, so not a surgical candidate. I treated him with SBRT. Did great. Had bilateral recurrence 5 years later, was placed on immunotherapy and nearly died from pneumonitis. Tried chemotherapy, also nearly killed him. So, I just started SBRTing (insert Danny Devito meme here).
We are now in 2025 and I have in total treated 16 separate isocenters across both lungs in 10 courses since 2012. Ten received 50 Gy in 5 fx, two received 54 Gy in 3 fx, and two received 40 Gy in 5 fx due to overlap near the chest wall with prior tx. No change in O2 requirement status, no chest wall pain, no symptoms. Last treatment was last year, and he's been NED since.
Every time I see him and we have to treat, I tell him I really don't know what's going to happen, as we are "off the map". I'm still amazed at how many SBRT treatments his COPD-affected lungs have been able to tolerate. Has anyone heard of anything like this before?
Brag away everyone, I want to hear what we've all been able to get The Healing Rays to achieve.
So, with no further ado, what do you consider your greatest clinical success(es)? Here's one of mine which I've found interesting:
73 year-old I saw first in 2012 for SBRT for Stage I NSCLC. COPD, so not a surgical candidate. I treated him with SBRT. Did great. Had bilateral recurrence 5 years later, was placed on immunotherapy and nearly died from pneumonitis. Tried chemotherapy, also nearly killed him. So, I just started SBRTing (insert Danny Devito meme here).
We are now in 2025 and I have in total treated 16 separate isocenters across both lungs in 10 courses since 2012. Ten received 50 Gy in 5 fx, two received 54 Gy in 3 fx, and two received 40 Gy in 5 fx due to overlap near the chest wall with prior tx. No change in O2 requirement status, no chest wall pain, no symptoms. Last treatment was last year, and he's been NED since.
Every time I see him and we have to treat, I tell him I really don't know what's going to happen, as we are "off the map". I'm still amazed at how many SBRT treatments his COPD-affected lungs have been able to tolerate. Has anyone heard of anything like this before?
Brag away everyone, I want to hear what we've all been able to get The Healing Rays to achieve.