What Do You Wish You'd Known or Advice On SABR (Radiation Therapy)

@bpb Hi. I'm not there yet, so have no useful response, but I wanted to say that's a great question and I'll be watching for good answers. Best to you. Kathy

And best to you, Kathy. Thanks for your response. 🙂

Beth

My spouse was damaged more by the radiation than the chemo. It seems like radiation may have added insult to injury.

Hi Cepheid815,

I'm sorry to hear of your spouse's experience. That sounds very hard. If you're comfortable sharing any details, that would be helpful. Here are some questions your response brought up: was it SABR or SBRT? How recent was her experience? What do you wish you and your spouse had known before going into this treatment?

Thank you in advance for your response.

Beth

Good morning- I'm so sorry to hear about the damage that was done by treatment for lung cancer. What kind of damage was caused?

Merry

@bpb, I think members like @merpreb @meka @kj9 @tomm1951 @linda10 @sakota can offer some experiences with stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), also known as stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) and can offer tips on how to prepare and what to expect.

bpb, when do you start radiation treatment?

Hi Colleen,

I have my mapping/simulation appointment on Monday, 10/3. I will know more about the treatment schedule then. I'll let you know. I hope that one of the members you mentioned will give some tips on preparation and what to expect.

I'm told the side effects "should" be minimal. I have a lot of sensitivities, allergies and asthma so anytime someone uses "should," I feel rather cautious. For example, before I had a dental implant, I asked if they ever fall out. "Oh, no!" the dentist & staff told me. Well, mine fell out not once, but twice. And of course, the care team has no clue that these kind of things seem to happen to me. LOL!!

Beth

Colleen and Beth- As usual science has to make things as complicated as possible with acronyms for everything. There is a difference between SABR and SBRT and that is where the cancer is in the lung, the size of the tumor, and other factors.
Essentially SABR aims concentrated beams at small tumors at the edge of organs such as lungs, prostrate, and livers.
https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2017/08/21/sabr-radiotherapy-thats-smart-fast-and-to-the-point/
From what I can understand SBRT is a type of external radiation therapy that uses special equipment to position the patient and precisely give a single large dose of radiation to a tumor. Radiation distorts the DNA of the tumor cells. It's used to get rid of tumors where people can't or shouldn't have surgery.

Proton and Photon are the main atoms used in SBRT. I might have opened up a conversation regarding an area that is so beyond my understanding....this is so futuristic. Each one also has a different size atom and it depends on the size of the tumor which one is used.

Hi Merry,

Thank you for your helpful comment. Interesting that you note the difference. My provider has used them interchangeably . . . . I found the article for which you sent the link interesting and it seems the two forms share some common traits. Yes, I am better at metaphors than physics, LOL!

Warmly,
Beth