Effect of Increased Radiotoxicity on Survival of Patients with Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Treated with Curatively Intended Radiotherapy

• Published in: Anticancer research Vol. 35; no. 10; p. 5491
• Main Authors: Holgersson, Georg, Bergström, Stefan, Liv, Per, Nilsson, Jonas, Edlund, Per, Blomberg, Carl, Nyman, Jan, Friesland, Signe, Ekman, Simon, Asklund, Thomas, Henriksson, Roger, Bergqvist, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Greece 01-10-2015
• Subjects: Adenocarcinoma - mortality; Adenocarcinoma - pathology; Adenocarcinoma - radiotherapy; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - mortality; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - pathology; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - radiotherapy; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - mortality; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - pathology; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - radiotherapy; esophagitis; Esophagitis - diagnosis; Esophagitis - etiology; Esophagitis - mortality; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Lung Neoplasms - mortality; Lung Neoplasms - pathology; Lung Neoplasms - radiotherapy; Male; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Staging; NSCLC; Prognosis; Radiation Injuries - diagnosis; Radiation Injuries - etiology; Radiation Injuries - mortality; Radiation Pneumonitis - diagnosis; Radiation Pneumonitis - etiology; Radiation Pneumonitis - mortality; radiotherapy; Radiotherapy - adverse effects; Retrospective Studies; survival; Survival Rate; toxicity; toxicity; radiotherapy; NSCLC; esophagitis; survival
• ISSN: 1791-7530; 0250-7005; 1791-7530

To elucidate the impact of different forms of radiation toxicities (esophagitis, radiation pneumonitis, mucositis and hoarseness), on the survival of patients treated with curatively intended radiotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Data were individually collected retrospectively for all patients diagnosed with NSCLC subjected to curatively intended radiotherapy (≥50 Gy) in Sweden during the time period 1990 to 2000.
Esophagitis was the only radiation-induced toxicity with an impact on survival (hazard ratio=0.83, p=0.016). However, in a multivariate model, with clinical- and treatment-related factors taken into consideration, the impact of esophagitis on survival was no longer statistically significant (hazard ratio=0.88, p=0.17).
The effect on survival seen in univariate analysis may be related to higher radiation dose and to the higher prevalence of chemotherapy in this group. The results do not suggest that the toxicities examined have any detrimental effect on overall survival.