The Impact of Extent and Location of Mediastinal Lymph Node Involvement on Survival in Stage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Treated With Definitive Radiotherapy

Journal Article · Tue May 01 04:00:00 EDT 2012 · International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.IJROBP.2011.05.070· OSTI ID:22056354

Fernandes, Annemarie T ^[1]; Mitra, Nandita ^[2]; Xanthopoulos, Eric ^[1]; Evans, Tracey; Stevenson, James; Langer, Corey ^[3]; Kucharczuk, John C ^[4]; Lin, Lilie; Rengan, Ramesh ^[1]

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1. Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States)
2. Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States)
3. Department of Medical Oncology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States)
4. Department of Thoracic Surgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States)

Purpose: Several surgical series have identified subcarinal, contralateral, and multilevel nodal involvement as predictors of poor overall survival in patients with Stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with definitive resection. This retrospective study evaluates the impact of extent and location of mediastinal lymph node (LN) involvement on survival in patients with Stage III NSCLC treated with definitive radiotherapy. Methods and Materials: We analyzed 106 consecutive patients with T1-4 N2-3 Stage III NSCLC treated with definitive radiotherapy at University of Pennsylvania between January 2003 and February 2009. For this analysis, mediastinal LN stations were divided into four mutually exclusive groups: supraclavicular, ipsilateral mediastinum, contralateral mediastinum, and subcarinal. Patients' conditions were then analyzed according to the extent of involvement and location of mediastinal LN stations. Results: The majority (88%) of patients received sequential or concurrent chemotherapy. The median follow-up time for survivors was 32.6 months. By multivariable Cox modeling, chemotherapy use (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.21 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.07-0.63]) was associated with improved overall survival. Increasing primary tumor [18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-glucose avidity (HR: 1.11 [CI: 1.06-1.19]), and subcarinal involvement (HR: 2.29 [CI: 1.11-4.73]) were significant negative predictors of overall survival. On univariate analysis, contralateral nodal involvement (HR: 0.70 [CI: 0.33-1.47]), supraclavicular nodal involvement (HR: 0.78 [CI: 0.38-1.67]), multilevel nodal involvement (HR: 0.97 [CI: 0.58-1.61]), and tumor size (HR: 1.04 [CI: 0.94-1.14]) did not predict for overall survival. Patients with subcarinal involvement also had lower rates of 2-year nodal control (51.2% vs. 74.9%, p = 0.047) and 2-year distant control (28.4% vs. 61.2%, p = 0.043). Conclusions: These data suggest that the factors that determine oncologic outcome in Stage III NSCLC patients treated with definitive radiotherapy are distinct from those observed in patients who undergo surgical resection. The ultimate efficacy of radiation in locally advanced NSCLC is dependent on the intrinsic biology of the tumor.

• OSTI ID: 22056354
• Journal Information: International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics, Journal Name: International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 83; ISSN IOBPD3; ISSN 0360-3016
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
CHEMOTHERAPY
FLUORINE 18
GLUCOSE
HAZARDS
LUNGS
LYMPH NODES
MEDIASTINUM
NEOPLASMS
PATIENTS
RADIOTHERAPY
SIMULATION
SURGERY