(ChemotherapyAdvisor) – Patients with potentially operable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who undergo primary stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) have a 5-year survival outcome, according to researchers from VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, who recently published the study that led to this conclusion. The study, entitled “Outcomes of Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy in Patients with Potentially Operable Stage I Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer,” has been published in the May issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics. For this study, the investigators aimed to determine outcomes after SABR in patients with potentially operable stage I NSCLC.
Study data were obtained from an institutional prospective database collected since 2003. From this database, the investigators pulled 25% of lung SABR cases (n=177 patients) that were found to be potentially operable. Excluded cases were those with (1) synchronous lung tumors or other malignancy, (2) prior high-dose radiotherapy/pneumonectomy, (3) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with a severity score of 3-4 according to the Global initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease classification, (4) a performance score of ≥3, and (5) other comorbidities that precluded surgery. Based on these criteria, 101 males and 76 females were included in the study; patients had median age of 76 years old, and 60% were staged T1 and 40% were staged T2.
The patients received an SABR dose of 60 Gy in 3, 5, or 8 fractions, depending on tumor size and location; disease progression was then monitored by chest computed tomography scans obtained at 3, 6, and 12 months and yearly thereafter. The investigators reported a median overall survival (OS) of 61.5 months, with 1- and 3-year survival rates of 94.7% and 84.7%, respectively. Toxicity was mild, with grade ≥3 radiation pneumonitis and rib fractures in 2% and 3%, respectively.
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The investigators concluded that patients with potentially operable disease who underwent primary SABR had a median OS that exceeded 5 years.
Abstract (Select “ScienceDirect)
