Optimizing the Use of Hypofractionated Radiotherapy in Lung Cancer Care

At the 2026 American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO) Summit, CancerNetwork^® spoke with Pranshu Mohindra, MD, about his presentation highlighting practical considerations for using hypofractionated radiotherapy among patients with lung cancer. His session sought to educate colleagues and providers on hypofractionation in the context of thoracic malignancies, thereby expanding the modality’s use for patients.

According to Mohindra, a clinical professor and vice-chair of Operations & Quality in the Department of Radiation Oncology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center/UH Seidman Cancer Center and director the UH Proton Therapy Center, his presentation reviewed strategies for treatment planning and decision-making with respect to hypofractionated lung cancer therapy. As part of his session, Mohindra devised a simplified decision tree that could help clinicians optimize treatment plans for patients regardless of whether they have early-stage or locally advanced disease.

Transcript:

The whole team at the ACRO Summit is trying to have topics that are of practical relevance. In our field, there is increased use of hypofractionation for a variety of reasons. Lung cancer, which was the topic of my presentation, is also part of that domain where hypofractionation has increasingly become a common practice. At the same time, there is still some education opportunities and developing comfort level between physician providers to be able to use hypofractionation effectively. The background of this session was to try to bring this topic to further conversation so [more] providers can start utilizing this for their patients.

My biggest takeaway from the presentation is to help provide a framework for expanding use of hypofractionation in [providers'] respective clinics. My plan in the presentation was to cover, step-wise, how to approach the treatment planning, the indication, and the decision-making that goes into it. [The presentation] covered the operational workflows for image guidance, and then I ended with providing a relatively simplified decision tree that physicians can use in their own respective clinics to help choose various dose regimens that are available for hypofractionation based on whether they are early stage; locally advanced; [receiving] re-radiation, a topic that we didn't discuss much; or in palliative settings.

Reference

Mohindra P. Practical use of hypofractionation in lung cancer. Presented at the 2026 American College of Radiation Oncology Summit; Orlando, FL. February 4-6, 2026.