title: Response to radiotherapy in brain metastases and survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
abstract: The present study involves non-small cell lung (NSCLC) cancer patients with brain metastases, who were treated with radiation therapy, and our aim was to determine response rate and survival. A total of 167 patients were recruited, 155 (125 male, 30 female) of whom were evaluable. Performance status was 0-2 and histology or cytology included 66 (42.58%) adenocarcinomas, 62 (40.00%) undifferentiated and 27 (17.42%) squamous cell carcinomas. The stage of disease at diagnosis was IIIA-B in 92 (59.35%) patients and IV in 63 (40.65%). All patients had whole brain irradiation (3 Gy x 5 days/week for 2 weeks to a total dose of 30 Gy), which was performed by a linear accelerator and a 6-MV photon beam. Objective response was observed in 59/155 (38.06%) patients with 17 (10.97%) complete and 42 (27.09%) partial responses, and median survival of 5 months for all patients [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.9-6.1]. Responders had statistically significant longer survival than non-responders. Although responders represented less than half of our patients with NSCLC and brain metastases, they had significantly longer survival.
authors.affiliation: Hospital of Thoracic Diseases, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Dimosthenis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Antoniou
authors.forename: Kostas
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kyprianou
authors.forename: George P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Stathopoulos
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Skarleas
authors.forename: Georgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kolitsi
authors.forename: Marinos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Veslemes
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dimitroulis
authors.forename: Pantelis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giamboudakis
authors.forename: Kostas
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Marosis
authors.forename: Ourania
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Armenaki
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Papageorgiou
authors.forename: Costas
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Katis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000556:secondary; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D003907:Dexamethasone