A real-world study of thoracic radiation for extensive-stage small-cell
lung cancer in the context of immunotherapy
Abstract
Objective: It is already established that thoracic radiation therapy
(TRT) enhances the outcomes of patients with extensive-stage small cell
lung cancer (ES-SCLC) after chemotherapy response. This investigation
aimed to elucidate TRT’s impact on ES-SCLC patients during
immunotherapy. Methods: This retrospective research was authorized by
our institute IRB and included histopathology-confirmed ES-SCLC cases
that underwent chemoimmunotherapy with or without TRT as primary
treatment at our hospital between October 2018 to March 2022. With the
help of propensity score matching, the selection bias was minimized. The
research endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall
survival (OS), which were determined via Kaplan-Meier, from first-line
treatment initiation time. Survivals in different cohorts were compared
with the help of a Log-rank test. Furthermore, Cox proportional hazards
regression was applied to examine factors linked with survival. With the
help of subgroup analyses, the influencing factors on TRT were assessed.
Results: This investigation analyzed 172 patients who were followed up
for a median of 20.1 months. The median PFS and OS for patients
receiving TRT were 11.3 and 24.4 months, respectively, while for those
without TRT, the values were 15.9 and 6.6 months (p < 0.001
and p = 0.006, respectively). According to the multivariate Cox
regression assessment, thoracic radiotherapy was an independent
favourable factor for both OS and PFS. Per the subgroup analysis,
patients in all subgroups may have OS beneficial after TRT. Conclusions:
Thoracic radiation therapy may improve PFS and OS in ES-SCLC cases
undergoing chemoimmunotherapy as the primary treatment. Further
investigation by randomized controlled studies is needed for
confirmation.