FAIRFIELD, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Patients diagnosed with early stage lung cancer are often treated by surgically removing part or all of the affected lung. But a cutting edge and less invasive treatment available in Maine, is giving patients a much better chance at survival.
There is almost nothing that Norman Kenney dosen't love more than being out in the fresh air. But after smoking for 50 years, doing normal activities became difficult.
Soon, Norman's doctor found a lump the size of a peanut in his upper right lung. he recommended a lobectomy.
Since surgery was not an option for Norman, another doctor recommended a breakthrough treatment for patients diagnosed with stage one lung cancer. The treatment is called Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy known as SBRT.
Dr. Ian Bristol, of the Spectrum Medical Group is the Radiation Oncologist who treated Kenney.
He says a patient has to first undergo a ' simulation'. They are immobilized in a body cradle to keep them perfectly still.
Then using a 4 D CT scan Dr. Bristol and his team track and pinpoint the tumor. Knowing the exact location of the tumor at any given point in the breathing cycle allows doctors to use a smaller area to focus directly on the tumor.
'It is going to allow us to deliver higher doses of radiation therpay to tumors but at the same time we are able to spare more normal tissue, said Dr. Bristol.
Doctors then develop a treatment plan which is a sequence of highly focused radiation beams, that enter and exit the tumor.DF
Patients receive about four or five of these treatments at Maine Medical Center over a several week period.
Conventional treatment requires as many as 35 doses of radition up to a 8 week period. Doctors say the survival rate following this regime is about 60 percent, the outcome for patients that undergo SBRT is more than 90 percent.
As for Norman, he is back doing the things he loves. the big difference? -- no huffing and puffing. 'It dosen't bother me, I can split wood all day,' he said.
Eastern Maine Medical Center CancerCare of Maine in Bangor also provides SBRT treatment. Since September of 2010, the center has treated patients both lung cancer and liver cancer.
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