title: Survival Following Palliative External-beam Radiotherapy of Locally Advanced and Metastatic Liver Cancer.
abstract: The goal of this study was to identify prognostic factors of survival in patients receiving palliative external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT) for advanced liver cancer.
  
  
  
  Seventeen patients irradiated for advanced liver cancer were retrospectively evaluated. Fourteen patients had metastatic disease, three had locally advanced disease. Six variables were investigated for survival: age at EBRT, time from liver cancer diagnosis to EBRT, number of involved metastatic sites, gender, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance score, radiation dose.
  
  
  
  On univariate analyses, time from liver cancer diagnosis to EBRT >12 months (p=0.040), only 0-1 metastatic sites (p=0.003) and ECOG performance score 1-2 (p<0.001) were positively correlated with survival. On Cox regression analysis, the number of metastatic sites (risk ratio=4.68, p=0.053) and ECOG performance score (risk ratio=4.68, p=0.056) showed a strong trend for association with survival.
  
  
  
  Predictors of survival were found that can facilitate choosing the optimal treatment for individual patients with liver cancer assigned to palliative EBRT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany Rades.Dirk@gmx.net.
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rades
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
authors.forename: Louisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bolm
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Steven E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Schild
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Oncology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bartscht
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000556:secondary; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000556:secondary; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D008297:Male; D010166:Palliative Care; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate
keywords: Liver cancer; advanced disease; external-beam radiotherapy; palliative treatment; survival