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SAVR Clinical Trial
Stereotactic Ablative Lung Volume Reduction (SAVR) Clinical Trial
Many patients who might benefit from lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) are not candidates for the surgery because they do not fit the criteria that we believe will allow a high probability of a good and safe outcome. For these patients, we have designed a clinical trial involving a new means of achieving a more minimally invasive "volume reduction" through the application of stereotactic radiotherapy (termed SAVR).
Stereotactic radiotherapy applies a strong, very localized beam of radiation to focal areas of the lung. This usually requires between one and three sessions of radiation. We have noted that when patients with lung cancer who could not tolerate surgery undergo stereotactic radiation as an alternative therapy for the tumor, a side-effect is often shrinkage of the radiated lobe of the lung. This finding has inspired us to try to use this "side-effect" of the radiation to help emphysema patients, using radiation therapy to shrink the most severely affected areas of the lung in a manner similar to the way lung volume reduction surgery allows us to remove the most diseased parts of the lung.
We have begun a clinical trial in which patients who are not good candidates for surgical LVRS can undergo SAVR. The first five patients will undergo SAVR only unilaterally (on one lung). If that proves to be safe, an additional five patients will undergo bilateral SAVR.
If you are interested in surgical LVRS, SAVR, or both, please call 650-498-6000 and make an appointment to see Dr. Joseph Shrager. To have him pre-screen your studies before arranging a visit to Stanford, call 650-721-2086.