Lymphocyte Depletion and Change in Lymphocyte Functionality

Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell (WBC) responsible for adaptive immunity. Thoracic tumors are adjacent to many blood/immune rich organs including the great vessels, heart, thoracic-spine, and lymph-node-stations. During radiation treatment the impact to lymphocytes can be significant. This may cause a decrease in the amount of lymphocytes. A researcher at UVA has created a system to predict and reduce the immune cell reduction following lung SBRT treatments beyond standard of care. The predicted decrease in lymphocytes will be compared to the actual decrease in lymphocytes found in peripheral blood. Researchers have found a way to give radiation that they think will result in a smaller decrease in lymphocytes after radiation. There will be two groups in this study, about half of the participants will have their radiation designed to decrease radiation to organs with a lot of blood and the other half will receive standard radiation therapy. Participants are being asked to take part in this study because the participants have been diagnosed with NSCLC and will be receiving a type of radiation therapy called stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) where high doses of radiation will be delivered to the tumor, while minimizing damage to healthy surrounding tissues.