Radiotherapy in the control of bleeding from primary and secondary lung tumours. (2nd April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gaito, Simona; Hughes, Christopher; Woolf, David; Radhakrishna, Ganesh
• Is Part Of: British journal of hospital medicine. Volume 80:Number 4(2019)
• Page Start: 211
• Page End: 215
• Publication Date: 2019-04-02
• Subjects: Medicine -- Periodicals; Hospital care -- Periodicals; 610.5
• DOI: 10.12968/hmed.2019.80.4.211
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1750-8460

Abstract

Abstract : This literature review clarifies the role of radiotherapy in the management of low-volume haemoptysis. Embase and Medline were interrogated, and PRISMA guidelines were then used to select relevant articles. Seventy-eight articles were considered relevant and manually reviewed. The evidence suggests that external beam radiotherapy is more effective than endobronchial brachytherapy at controlling low-volume haemoptysis. There is no evidence to recommend a combination of the two techniques. Different doses and fractionations appear equally effective, with a potential survival advantage of higher dose regimens for fitter patients. Palliative radiotherapy is effective at controlling low-volume haemoptysis. External beam radiotherapy is the first-line treatment, with endobronchial brachytherapy recommended following external beam radiotherapy failure. Choice of dose and fractionation should take into account the patient's performance status.