How do you typically measure if the radiation treatment is working for lung cancer?

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StephenHahnMD (Physician - Oncology - Radiation (Verified) ) - 05 / 04 / 2012

Radiation therapy works over a period of time AFTER the radiation is delivered. We obtain scans typically 3 and 6 months after a course of radiation to look for shrinkage and/or disappearance of the tumor. The scans can be regular CT scans of the chest or a PET CT scan. A PET CT scan often gives us more information about a patient’s response to treatment. It can be difficult to distinguish treatment-related changes in the lung which are benign and related to the effects of radiation on lung versus tumor. Therefore, such studies should be carefully evaluated by experienced radiologists and radiation oncologists.
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