Three-dimensional radiation therapy is more successful at curing lung cancer than two-dimensional therapy for some patients, find U.S. scientists.

Researchers at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston compared conventional radiation therapy to the newer three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy, or 3D-CRT, at curing patients with early stage non-small cell lung cancer. 3D-CRT allows doctors to aim several radiation beams at the tumor to shape or “conform” the radiation to the lung — tailoring each beam to give more radiation to the tumor while keeping it away from nearby healthy tissues.

Between 1978 and 2003, 200 patients with medically inoperable stage non-small cell lung cancer were treated with radiation therapy alone. Eighty-five received 3D-CRT while 115 received conventional therapy; 36 percent of patients with 3D-CRT lived five years after diagnosis compared to 10 percent who got conventional therapy, according to the study in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics.

“This study proves that three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy improves outcomes for patients with medically inoperable stage I non-small cell lung cancer,” said Dr. Ritsuko Komaki, radiation oncologist. “Patients with this type of lung cancer should ask their radiation oncologist about 3D-CRT.”