High-Dose Radiotherapy: Safe and Promising for Lung Cancer

KREMS, Austria - May 13, 2025 - PRLog -- Higher-than-usual doses of radiation in the treatment of inoperable lung cancer can be safely combined with immunotherapy without increasing the risk of severe lung inflammation (pneumonitis). This is the key finding of a recent study conducted by Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences (KL Krems). Patients who received 70 Gy of radiation – a dose above the conventional protocol – prior to treatment with the immune checkpoint inhibitor Durvalumab did not develop pneumonitis more frequently than those given a lower dose. At the same time, preliminary data suggest a significant survival benefit. The findings, based on a retrospective evaluation of nearly 40 patients, suggest that more intensive radiotherapy may offer improved outcomes without compromising safety in selected cases.

Lung cancer remains one of the most common and deadliest forms of cancer worldwide. For patients with inoperable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the established standard of care is concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) followed by immunotherapy with Durvalumab – particularly for tumours that express the PD-L1 protein, which enables cancer cells to evade the body's immune defences. However, both radiotherapy and immunotherapy are known to carry a risk of inducing pneumonitis. As a result, total radiation doses have traditionally been limited to 60 Gy (Gray, the unit of absorbed radiation dose). Researchers at KL Krems set out to investigate whether higher doses – which could potentially lead to better tumour control – could be administered without increasing the risk of serious side effects.

Original publication: High radiation dose in chemoradiotherapy followed by immunotherapy with durvalumab in patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer does not increase risk for pneumonitis. F. Schragel, M. Matousek, C. Resl, G. Kreye, N.-S. Le, P. Errhalt, P. Georg & K. Hackner. Strahlenther Onkol (2025). https://kris.kl.ac.at/de/publications/high-radiation-dose-in-chemoradiotherapy-followed-by-immunotherap. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00066-025-02369-0

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