Thank you

Hello

I don't know your history and I don't know if the radiotherapy has been your only treatment, but, I am due my third follow up in March, having only had the SABRE radiotherapy for a left upper lobe NSCLC. My first follow up was really positive with a shrinkage of nearly 50%, which the Oncologist said was a really good quick response to the radiotherapy. My second follow up also was positive with another shrinkage and the results given as "stable". The Oncologist said stable is a good thing and is on a par with remission because there had been no activity, apart from a small shrinkage, in the lesion in the six months since my first follow up. He also said that what the radiologists can see could possibly be dead cancer cells that have yet to be absorbed back into the body. 

You have probably been told that radiotherapy is not an instant treatment and can take up to 18 months or more to have full effect. The radiotherapy attacks and destroys the DNA of the cancer cells permanently so that they cannot regrow, but it takes time, so it's a bit of a waiting game to get a full picture. 

Very best wishes for your first follow up in February - I found my first follow up a bit nerve wracking, not knowing what I was going to get told, but also feeling positive, having been told by the Oncologist before my treatment started that radiotherapy is just as effective as other treatments. 

Please let us all know how you get on, onwards and upwards from here on.

Hi thank you for the information. My lesion is also in the left upper lobe near my heart so surgery was ruled out. My oncologist says the radiotherapy I had has excellent outcomes. I wasn’t told it could take up to 18months to have full effect however I am optimistic and hopeful that I get the same news that it has shrank. Good luck and very best wishes to you too in your journey onwards & upwards.