Survival and prognostic factors of non-small cell lung cancer patients with postoperative locoregional recurrence treated with radical radiotherapy

Abstract Background Locoregional recurrence remains the challenge for long-term survival of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients after radical surgery, and curative-intent radiotherapy could be a treatment choice. This study aimed to assess the survival and prognostic factors of patients with postoperative locoregionally recurrent NSCLC treated with radical radiotherapy. Methods We reviewed medical records of 74 NSCLC patients with postoperative locoregional recurrence who received radical radiotherapy between April 2012 and February 2016 at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (Guangzhou, China). The efficacy and safety of radical radiotherapy were analyzed. The probability of survival was estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to identify prognostic factors. Results Grade 3/4 adverse events included neutropenia (8 cases, 10.8%), esophagitis (7 cases, 9.5%), pneumonitis (1 case, 1.4%), and vomiting (1 case, 1.4%). The 2-year overall survival, progression-free survival, local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) rates of all patients were 84.2, 42.5, 70.0, and 50.9%, respectively. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that a higher biological effective dose (BED) of radiation was associated with longer LRFS [hazard ratios (HR) = 0.317, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.112–0.899, P = 0.016] and that wild-type epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was associated with longer DMFS compared with EGFR mutation (HR = 0.383, 95% CI = 0.171–0.855, P = 0.019). Conclusions Radical radiotherapy is effective and well-tolerated in NSCLC patients with postoperative locoregional recurrence. High BED is a predictor for long LRFS, and the presence of wild-type EGFR is a predictor for long DMFS.