A radiation oncologist, Laura Lyn Jacimore works at UNC Nash Health Care System in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where she consults with physicians to administer radiotherapy treatments to people with cancer. Laura Lyn Jacimore is also a member of the American Society of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), and regularly attends its annual meetings.

1. RADIOTHERAPY AND IMMUNOTHERAPY
IMPROVE METASTATIC LUNG CANCER
OUTCOMES
Laura Lyn Jacimore

2. INTRODUCTION
 A radiation oncologist, Laura Lyn Jacimore works at UNC Nash HealthCare System
in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where she consults with physicians to administer
radiotherapy treatments to people with cancer. Laura Lyn Jacimore is also a
member of theAmerican Society ofTherapeutic Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), and
regularly attends its annual meetings.
The 2019ASTROAnnual Meeting presented a platform for radiation therapy
researchers to showcase some of their recent findings. One particularly
encouraging presentation showed that adding precisely targeted, escalating doses
of radiotherapy to patients who were no longer responding to immunotherapy re-
energized the immune system in patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung
cancer (NSCLC), leading to increased progression-free survival.The findings were
part of a randomized phase II trial lead byAllison M. Campbell, MD, PhD, fromYale
Cancer Center.
NSCLC accounts for up to 85 percent of lung cancer diagnoses. Many patients (57
percent) are diagnosed with this form of cancer when it has already reached stage
IV and spread to other areas of the body.At this stage, treatment methods only
focus on relieving symptoms and extending life.

3. RADIOTHERAPY
 Performed on 56 patients with NSCLC, the trial explored the
effects of targeted stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) where
immunotherapy proved ineffective at preventing the spread of
cancer.The study also researched how the combination of SBRT
and immunotherapy affected the immune system, how long
patients lived post treatment, and whether tumors in untreated
areas also shrank.
Findings showed that 21 patients lived an average of 5 months
longer after treatment, without their cancers progressing. In
two patients, tumors not in the treated area shrank by over 30
percent, staying that way for over a year. Meanwhile, in 10
patients, the disease stabilized.These results show promise in
the combination of SBRT and immunotherapy, setting the stage
for phase III trials that will involve far more participants.