Background: A few reports have evaluated the outcomes of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for patients with postoperative recurrence of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Patients and methods: From 2000 through 2011, 1237 consecutive patients with NSCLC underwent pulmonary resection at our institution. Of those, 280 patients had experienced postoperative recurrence by the end of 2012. Thirty-five patients received concurrent CRT as initial treatment of the recurrent disease. We retrospectively reviewed these cases, analyzed the outcomes of concurrent CRT after surgical resection, and examined the factors that predict long-term postrecurrence survival.
Results: The most common sites of recurrence in this cohort were the lymph nodes in 24 patients, followed by the lung in 5 patients and bone in 6 patients. The median radiation dose given as the initial treatment of recurrence was 60 Gy (range, 30-60 Gy). Chemotherapy included a platinum agent in all cases; cisplatin-based chemotherapy was administered in 23 cases, and a carboplatin-based chemotherapy regimen was administered in 12. The median progression-free and postrecurrence survival after CRT was 13 months (range, 4-127 months) and 31 months (range, 5-127 months), respectively. Seven patients were still alive without evidence of disease for > 3 years after the recurrence diagnosis. The ECOG performance status (PS), surgical procedure, and types of platinum agents used were independent prognostic factors for postrecurrence survival.
Conclusion: Concurrent CRT for recurrent NSCLC is a promising therapy for selected patients. A poor PS and postpneumonectomy state were poor prognostic factors for patients who received concurrent CRT.
Keywords: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy; Non-small cell lung cancer; Postoperative recurrence; Postrecurrence survival; Prognostic factors.
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