Can radiation alone help my sister, who has lung tumors?

Question

Hello doctor,

My sister is 35 and has bilateral lung tumors, and the doctors are discussing radiation as part of treatment. We are trying to understand

Can radiation alone shrink bilateral lung tumors at age 35?
Or is radiation usually combined with chemotherapy or targeted therapy?
Her scan report shows multiple nodules in both lungs, but limited spread outside the lungs. Would radiation be used for cure or mainly to control tumor growth?
Also, are there long-term side effects if both lungs receive radiation?

Please help.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I have read your query.

I understand why this situation is worrying for your family, especially since your sister is still young. When doctors see multiple nodules or tumors in both lungs, the treatment plan usually depends on several factors such as the exact type of lung cancer, how many lesions are present, their size and location, and whether there is disease outside the lungs.

In most situations where tumors are present in both lungs, radiation therapy (a precise cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation) alone is usually not enough to treat the entire disease. Radiation works very well for controlling cancer in a specific area where the beam is directed, but it does not treat cancer cells that may be present elsewhere in the body.

Because of this, doctors often combine radiation with treatments that work throughout the body, such as chemotherapy (the treatment of disease by the use of chemical substances, especially the treatment of cancer by cytotoxic and other drugs), targeted therapy (a precision cancer treatment that uses drugs to identify and attack specific cancer cells while sparing healthy cells), or sometimes immunotherapy (a type of cancer treatment that boosts or changes a person's own immune system to help it recognize and destroy cancer cells more effectively), depending on the tumor type.

If a specific genetic mutation is present in the cancer cells, targeted therapy may become the main treatment, and radiation may only be used for certain lesions if needed. In other cases, chemotherapy is used first to control the disease, and radiation may be added later to treat particular areas. The exact sequence depends on the tumor biology and the treatment strategy chosen by the oncology team.

Regarding the purpose of radiation, it can sometimes be used with curative intent when the disease is very limited and localized. However, when there are multiple nodules in both lungs, radiation is more commonly used to control tumor growth in selected areas, reduce symptoms, or improve local disease control while systemic therapy treats the overall cancer.

As for long-term effects, radiation to lung tissue can sometimes cause inflammation of the lungs known as radiation pneumonitis, which may lead to cough or breathlessness for some time after treatment. In the longer term, a small degree of scarring in the treated area may occur. Modern radiation planning techniques are designed to limit exposure to healthy lung tissue as much as possible, especially when both lungs are involved, so radiation oncologists plan these treatments very carefully.

I hope this answers your query.

Please let me know if I can assist you further.

Thank you.