Impact of Deferring Radiation Therapy in Patients With Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor–Mutant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Who Develop Brain Metastases

Journal Article · Wed Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 2016 · International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.IJROBP.2016.01.037· OSTI ID:22648683

Yeung, Jacky T. ^[1]; Guillod, Paul D. ^[2]; Gettinger, Scott N. ^[3]; Yu, James B. ^[4]; Chiang, Veronica L. ^[1]

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1. Department of Neurosurgery, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut (United States)
2. Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut (United States)
3. Department of Medical Oncology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut (United States)
4. Department of Radiation Oncology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut (United States)

Purpose: To perform a retrospective analysis of patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant lung adenocarcinoma who developed brain metastases (BM) to evaluate our hypothesis that the use of upfront EGFR–tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), and deferral of radiation therapy (RT), would result in inferior intracranial progression-free survival but similar overall survival (OS). Methods and Materials: Of 202 patients diagnosed with EGFR-mutant NSCLC between July 1, 2008, and December 31, 2014, 71 developed BM. Twenty-one patients were excluded owing to prior EGFR-TKI use, EGFR-TKI resistance mutation, failure to receive EGFR-TKI after whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT)/stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) or <6 months' follow-up. Of the remaining 50 patients, 17 received upfront EGFR-TKI followed by SRS or WBRT, 17 WBRT then EGFR-TKI, and 16 SRS followed by EGFR-TKI. Disease-specific-graded prognostic assessment was similar among all 3 groups. Results: The median OS was longer in the upfront RT group compared with the upfront EGFR-TKI group (34.1 vs 19.4 months; P=.01). On subgroup analysis, the SRS group had longer OS than the upfront EGFR-TKI group (58.4 vs 19.4 months; P=.01), but the WBRT group did not (29.9 vs 19.4 months; P=.09). Intracranial progression-free survival was improved in patients receiving upfront RT compared with those receiving upfront EGFR-TKI (37.9 vs 10.6 months; P<.001). Conclusions: The present study suggests that the use of upfront EGFR-TKI, and the deferral of SRS or WBRT, may result in inferior OS in patients with EGFR-mutant NSCLC who develop brain metastases. A prospective, multi-institutional, randomized trial of upfront EGFR-TKI with RT at intracranial progression versus upfront RT followed by EGFR-TKI is urgently needed.

• OSTI ID: 22648683
• Journal Information: International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics, Journal Name: International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 95; ISSN IOBPD3; ISSN 0360-3016
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
BRAIN
GROWTH FACTORS
LUNGS
NEOPLASMS
PATIENTS
RADIOTHERAPY
SURGERY