title: Validation of recursive partitioning analysis classification in patients with brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer treated with short-course accelerated radiotherapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study various prognostic factors affecting outcome and to validate Radiation Therapy Oncology Group recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) class in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with brain metastases treated with short-course accelerated radiotherapy (SCAR).
  
  
  METHODS
  The case records of 100 patients with NSCLC consecutively treated at Tata Memorial Hospital from August 2006 to August 2009 were studied for various patient, tumour and treatment-related prognostic factors. Patients received whole-brain radiotherapy to a dose of 20 Gy/five fractions over 1 week (n=90) or 30 Gy/10 fractions over 2 weeks (n=10). The Kaplan-Meier estimate was used for survival analysis in SPSS v15.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median overall survival was 4.0 months (range 0.5-30.0 months). The 6-, 12-, 18- and 24-month survival rates were 35.8, 18.0, 9.3 and 6.2%, respectively. Of the various prognostic factors, RPA class (II versus III, P value=0.023), Karnofsky performance score (<70 versus ≥70, P value=0.039) and the use of systemic therapy (yes versus no, P value=0.00) emerged as significant on univariate analysis. RPA classification effectively separated the patient population into prognostically distinct subgroups. The median overall survival for RPA class II and RPA class III was 6 and 4 months, respectively. The use of systemic therapy prolonged overall survival by 6 months (3 months versus 9 months).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SCAR regimen is an effective and resource-sparing palliative strategy for brain metastases in NSCLC. The results validate the usefulness of RPA classification in this specific subset of patients treated with SCAR.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, India. agarwaljp@tmc.gov.in
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wadasadawala
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Munshi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chadda
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Apsani
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Upasani
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Laskar
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Pramesh
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Karimundackal
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Menon
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Prabhash
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jambhekar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000556:secondary*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000556:secondary*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome