(SOURCE: American Society for Radiation Oncology, news release,
Oct. 29, 2012) MONDAY, Oct. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Many people
with incurable lung cancer mistakenly believe that radiation
therapy meant to ease their pain and other symptoms may cure
their disease, researchers report. This type of treatment is
called palliative radiation therapy and can improve patients'
quality of life, but will not cure their cancer. The researchers
looked at data from nearly 400 patients over the age of 21 with
incurable lung cancer who received or were scheduled to receive
palliative radiation therapy. Findings from surveys completed by
the patients four months after their lung cancer diagnosis
showed that most of them believed that palliative radiation
therapy could help them. The investigators found that 78 percent
of the patients believed that palliative radiation therapy was
"very" or "somewhat likely" to help them live longer, and 67
percent believed that it was "very" or "somewhat likely" to help
them with cancer-rela