title: Does high-dose radiotherapy benefit palliative lung cancer patients?: An intradepartmental comparison of two dose regimens.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present analysis compares two palliative treatment concepts for lung cancer in terms of overall survival.
  
  
  METHODS
  Survival data from 207 patients were used in a retrospective analysis. All patients received palliative treatment comprising either 25 Gy applied in 5 fractions or 50 Gy in 20 fractions. A subgroup analysis was performed to compare patients with a good-fair vs. poor overall condition.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median survival times were 21 weeks (range 6-26 weeks) for patients treated with 25 Gy in 5 fractions and 23 weeks (range 14.5-31.5 weeks) for patients treated with 50 Gy in 20 fractions (95 % confidence interval, CI; p = 0.334). For patients with a good-fair overall condition, median survival times were 30 weeks (21.8-39.2 weeks) for 25 Gy in 5 fractions and 28 weeks (14.2-41.8 weeks) for 50 Gy in 20 fractions (CI 95 %, p = 0.694). In patients with a poor overall condition, these values were 18 weeks (14.5-21.5 weeks) and 21 weeks (13.0-29.0 weeks), respectively (CI 95 %, p = 0.248).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The palliative treatment concept of 25 Gy applied in 5 fractions is sufficient for radiation of lung cancer, given that there was no obvious survival improvement in patients treated with the higher total dose regimen.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Strahlentherapie und Radioonkologie, Ruppiner Kliniken GmbH, Neuruppin, Germany. Christina.schroeder@med.uni-giessen.de
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schröder
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ivo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buchali
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001984:Bronchial Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D019583:Dose Fractionation, Radiation; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome