Breathing easier
(continued)

"The problem with giving radiation therapy to people with lung cancer is that lung tissue and surrounding organs are very sensitive," said Ryu. "Using conventional techniques, you can't give high dosages of radiation to the lungs or you'll damage them."

In three-dimensional con- formal radiation therapy, as many as 80 CT images are fed into a special computer program that creates a three-dimensional model of the tumor. The focused radiation is delivered in the precise shape and volume of the malignancy.

This method "has been very effective in treating prostate cancer," Ryu notes. "We've been able to give a much higher dose of radiation to lung cancer patients without side effects."

Working in this way - physicians from different specialties collaborating with each other and with patholo- gists and researchers - cancer center doctors help advance the body of knowledge about cancer while helping specific patients.

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Dr. Primo Lara and Frank Karney, a patient who is enrolled in a lung cancer clinical trial