Chemoradiotherapy versus radiotherapy alone following induction chemotherapy for elderly patients with stage III lung cancer
- Author:
Dong Yun KIM
1
;
Changhoon SONG
;
Se Hyun KIM
;
Yu Jung KIM
;
Jong Seok LEE
;
Jae Sung KIM
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Non-small cell lung cancer; Concurrent chemoradiotherapy; Induction chemotherapy; Radiotherapy; Aged 70 and over; Comorbidity
- MeSH: Aged; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung; Chemoradiotherapy; Comorbidity; Drug Therapy; Esophagitis; Humans; Incidence; Induction Chemotherapy; Lung Neoplasms; Lung; Mortality; Multivariate Analysis; Neoplasm Metastasis; Radiotherapy; Recurrence; Retrospective Studies; Weight Loss
- From:Radiation Oncology Journal 2019;37(3):176-184
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: PURPOSE: It is unclear whether adding concurrent chemotherapy (CT) to definitive radiotherapy (RT) following induction CT is a tolerable and cost effective treatment for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients aged 70 years or older with comorbidities. This study evaluated the actual clinical outcomes between concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) and RT alone following induction CT or not in patients (≥70 years) in a single institution’s clinical practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 82 patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC between 2004 and 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. Their treatment tolerance and clinical outcomes such as overall survival (OS), locoregional recurrence (LRR), treatment toxicities and distant metastasis (DM) were evaluated. Early mortality rates were also evaluated as 4-month mortality after RT. RESULTS: Fifty-four patients received CCRT and 28 patients received RT alone. Induction CT before RT was performed for 68.5% and 50.0% in CCRT and RT alone groups. Treatment tolerance was significantly worse in CCRT (p = 0.046). The median survival was 21.1 and 18.1 months for CCRT and RT alone, which was not statistically significant. LRR and DM were also not different. Most early deaths after CCRT were attributed to non-cancer-related mortality. Acute esophagitis of grade ≥2 occurred more following CCRT (p = 0.017). In multivariate analysis, a Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) of ≥5 and a weight loss of ≥5% after RT were associated with poor OS. The factors adversely affecting 4-month survival were a CCI of ≥5 and CCRT. CONCLUSION: There were no significant differences in OS, LRR, and DM between CCRT and RT alone treatment in elderly patients. However, there was a poorer tolerance and higher incidence of acute esophagitis in the CCRT group. Specifically, when the patients had a CCI of ≥5, RT alone seems to be reasonable with a low probability of early death.
