1. Efficacy and Tolerability of Palliative Split-Course Thoracic Chemoradiotherapy for Symptomatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.
- Author
-
Dandekar VK, Young J, Kiel K, Bonomi P, Fidler MJ, Batus M, and Sher DJ
- Subjects
- Adenocarcinoma complications, Adenocarcinoma pathology, Aged, Carboplatin administration & dosage, Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung complications, Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung pathology, Carcinoma, Squamous Cell complications, Carcinoma, Squamous Cell pathology, Chemoradiotherapy adverse effects, Chest Pain etiology, Chest Pain therapy, Cohort Studies, Cough etiology, Cough therapy, Dyspnea etiology, Dyspnea therapy, Esophagitis etiology, Etoposide administration & dosage, Female, Hemoptysis etiology, Hemoptysis therapy, Humans, Lung Neoplasms complications, Lung Neoplasms pathology, Male, Middle Aged, Paclitaxel administration & dosage, Palliative Care, Pemetrexed administration & dosage, Radiation Injuries etiology, Radiation Pneumonitis etiology, Retrospective Studies, Treatment Outcome, Adenocarcinoma therapy, Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols therapeutic use, Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung therapy, Carcinoma, Squamous Cell therapy, Chemoradiotherapy methods, Lung Neoplasms therapy
- Abstract
Introduction: To assess the efficacy and tolerability of palliative split-course concurrent thoracic chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with incurable locally advanced and metastatic non-small cell lung cancer., Methods: All patients with incurable non-small cell lung cancer and symptomatic thoracic disease treated with palliative split-course CRT between March 2006 and February 2013 at a single institution were included in this retrospective study. The primary endpoint was improvement in presenting thoracic symptoms. Secondary endpoints included toxicity, overall survival, and the cumulative incidence of locoregional failure., Results: Fifty-five patients were identified, of whom 89% had distant metastatic disease at the initiation of treatment. The median radiotherapy dose delivered was 40 Gy over 20 fractions. Over 90% of patients were able to complete at least 2 cycles of chemotherapy, and 89% of patients completed the prescribed course of radiotherapy. Forty percent of patients had improvement in all presenting symptoms and 78% experienced improvement in at least 1 symptom. Nine and 2 patients, respectively, experienced grade 1 and 2 esophagitis and 1 patient experienced grade 2 pneumonitis. There were no cases of grade 3 toxicity. With a median follow-up for surviving patients of 4.5 months, the estimated actuarial 6-, 12-, and 24-month overall survival was 56%, 25%, and 13%, respectively. The actuarial 6-, 12-, and 24-month cumulative incidence of locoregional failure was 6%, 14%, and 22%, respectively., Discussion: Split-course CRT allows for early introduction of systemic therapy while providing durable locoregional control with tolerable morbidity and significant improvement in chest symptomatology. This paradigm is a viable model for chest palliation in selected patients with intact performance status.
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF