CT-planned accelerated hypofractionated radiotherapy in the radical treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.
Surgery is the standard treatment for stage I, II and certain stage IIIA non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). A proportion of patients with technically operable NSCLC do not undergo surgery because of significant co-morbidity or refusal, and radical radiotherapy may cure some of these patients. Between April 1997 and March 2000, 135 consecutive patients with stage I-IIIB NSCLC were treated with CT-planned accelerated hypofractionated radical radiotherapy to a dose of 50-55Gy in 15-20 fractions over 3-4 weeks at a single centre. The 2-year overall and cause-specific survival for all patients was 44.4% (95% CI = 36.8, 53.7) and 47.8% (95% CI = 39.9, 57.3) respectively. Overall median survival was 21 months (95% 18, 28). There were no reports of severe acute or late treatment-related toxicities. These results compare favourably with previously published studies on radical radiotherapy in NSCLC, suggesting this may be an effective and safe technique.
Lester
Jason F
JF
Department of Oncology Cardiff, Velindre Hospital, Wales CF14 2TL, UK. jason.lester@velindre-tr.wales.nhs.uk
Macbeth
Fergus R
FR
Brewster
Alison E
AE
Court
Jon B
JB
Iqbal
Nayyer
N
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019583:Dose Fractionation, Radiation; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D011882:Radiotherapy, High-Energy / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome