Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Feb 28;12(1):42.
doi: 10.1186/s13014-017-0779-y.

Timing of thoracic radiotherapy in the treatment of extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer: important or not?

Jing Luo  1 , Liming Xu  1 , Lujun Zhao  2 , Yuanjie Cao  1 , Qingsong Pang  1 , Jun Wang  1 , Zhiyong Yuan  1 , Ping Wang  1
Affiliations

Timing of thoracic radiotherapy in the treatment of extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer: important or not?

Jing Luo et al. Radiat Oncol. .

Abstract

Background: This study evaluated the prognosis of patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) that may be associated with timing of thoracic radiotherapy (TRT).

Methods: ES-SCLC patients (n = 232) without progression were retrospectively analyzed after first-line induction chemotherapy. Patients in the TRT group were stratified as early-TRT (ERT; ≤3 cycles of induction chemotherapy received prior to TRT, n = 65) or late-TRT (LRT; >3 cycles, n = 122). To avoid selection bias, we conducted Propensity Score Matching (PSM) for patients. Overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRRFS) were assessed and compared.

Results: Overall, the median survival time, PFS, and LRRFS were 13.2, 8.7, and 14.6 months, respectively. After matching by PSM, there were 45 patients total in the TRT/non-TRT groups, and 56 patients total in the ERT/LRT groups. OS, PFS, and LRRFS were significantly longer in the TRT group than the non-TRT group (P < 0.001, all). However, between the ERT and LRT groups these survival parameters were similar (P > 0.05, all).

Conclusion: For ES-SCLC patients without progression, the addition of TRT after first-line chemotherapy benefited survival greatly. Early TRT showed no significant benefit over late TRT.

Keywords: Early/late radiotherapy; Prognosis; Radiotherapy; Small cell lung cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Survival rates of the TRT and non-TRT groups. Relative to patients in the non-TRT group, the survival rates of patients who received TRT showed improved (a) OS, (b) PFS, and (c) LRRFS
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Survival rates of the ERT and LRT groups. The ERT and LRT groups were similar for (a) OS, (b) PFS, and (c) LRRFS
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Schneider BJ, Kalemkerian GP. Personalized therapy of small cell lung cancer. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2016;890:149–74. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-24932-2_9. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fukui T, Itabashi M, Ishihara M, Hiyoshi Y, Kasajima M, Igawa S, et al. Prognostic factors affecting the risk of thoracic progression in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer. BMC Cancer. 2016;16:197. doi: 10.1186/s12885-016-2222-4. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. van Meerbeeck JP, Fennell DA, De Ruysscher DK. Small-cell lung cancer. Lancet. 2011;378:1741–55. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60165-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Parikh M, Riess J, Lara PN., Jr New and emerging developments in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer therapeutics. Curr Opin Oncol. 2016;28:97–103. doi: 10.1097/CCO.0000000000000264. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wood DE. National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) clinical practice guidelines for lung cancer screening. Thorac Surg Clin. 2015;25:185–97. doi: 10.1016/j.thorsurg.2014.12.003. - DOI - PubMed