Clinical evaluation of different radiotherapy modalities in patients with limited intracranial metastases and non-small cell lung cancer
Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of stereotactic radiosurgery(SRS)in comparison with whole brain radiation(WBRT)and assess treatment outcomes following them in patients with limited intra-cranial metastases and non-small cell lung cancer.Methods:A retrospective analysis of patients treat-ed for brain metastases with different irradiation modalities was performed.Local control(LC)and clinical outcomes were evaluated with magnetic resonance imaging.Patients were divided into WBRT+SRS,WBRT-alone,and SRS-alone groups according to different radiotherapy modalities,and their effects on overall survival(OS)and intracranial progression-free survival(IPFS)of patients with NSCLC-localized brain metastases were analyzed.Results:A total of 91 patients were enrolled in the analysis(10 patients in the WBRT+SRS,55 patients in the WBRT,and 26 patients in the SRS)with a median follow-up of 13 months.The median OS following brain irradiation for WBRT+ SRS,WBRT,and SRS were qualitatively different(17,16,and 12.5 months,respectively),al-though the difference was not statistically significant.The median IPFS in the three groups was 11.5,7,and 6 months,respectively,and the WBRT+SRS group had longer IPFS as compared with the WBRT-alone and SRS-alone groups(P=0.034).Further multivariate analysis showed that control of extracranial lesions and systemic treatment(targeted therapy and chemotherapy)were the main prog-nostic factors affecting OS.The factors affecting IPFS were mainly related to radiotherapy.Conclu-sion:The results suggested that WBRT+SRS has favorable local control compared with WBRT alone and SRS alone.However,there was no significant difference in survival between the groups.Control of extracranial lesions and systemic treatment were the major prognostic factors.