In a nutshell
This study investigated the effect of local consolidative therapy (LCT) with radiotherapy or surgery in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). They found that LCT prolonged survival in these patients.
Some background
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer. Metastatic cancer is cancer in organs other than the original site. Oligometastatic cancer (OMC) involves 3 or fewer tumor spread from the original site. After first-line treatment, there are a number of options in OMC.
Maintenance therapy (MT) involves using drugs in smaller doses to kill any remaining tumor cells. Observation (O) can also be used to monitor the progression of cancer. A combination of MT and observation (MT/O) is also used. Local consolidative therapy (LCT) is another option. LCT involves using surgery or targeted radiation to kill or remove tumor cells. It is unclear if LCT is more effective than MT/O in improving survival in NSCLC on the long-term.
Methods & findings
This study included 49 patients with NSCLC. All patients had OMC. Patients were randomly assigned to a group. One group had LCT involving surgery or radiation. After this, they underwent standard MT/O. Patients in the second group underwent MT/O only. The average follow-up tie was 38.8 months.
Survival without cancer growing or spreading was on average 14.2 months for LCT and 4.4 months for MT/O patients. Overall survival (OS) was significantly better in LCT patients. LCT patients had an OS of 41.2 months. This was compared to 17 months for MT/O patients. There were no severe side effects reported that were not previously identified.
The bottom line
The authors concluded that LCT prolonged survival in patients with advanced NSCLC.
The fine print
The number of patients that completed the study was low. This means it was difficult to determine if certain factors have an impact on LCT.
Published By :
Journal of clinical oncology
Date :
May 08, 2019
