Effectiveness of surgery and individualized high-dose hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy on survival in clinical stage I non-small cell lung cancer. A propensity score matched analysis

Marcelo F. Jimenez*, Angela van Baardwijk, Hugo J. W. L. Aerts, Dirk De Ruysscher, Nuria M. Novoa, Gonzalo Varela, Philippe Lambin

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

42 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background and purpose: Surgery is considered the treatment of choice for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients with poor pulmonary function or other comorbidities are treated with radiotherapy. The objective of this investigation is to compare the 3-year survival of two early-stage NSCLC populations treated in two different hospitals, either by surgical resection (lobectomy) or by individualized high-dose accelerated radiotherapy, after matching patients by propensity scoring analysis. Methods: A retrospective comparative study has been performed on two series of consecutive patients with cytohistological diagnosis of NSCLC, clinically staged IA by means of PET-scan (radiotherapy group) and pathologically staged IA (surgery group). Results: A total of 157 cases were initially selected for the analysis (110 operated and 47 treated by radiotherapy). Patients in the radiotherapy group were older, with higher comorbidity and lower FEV1% with 3-years probability of survival for operated patients higher than that found for patients treated by radiotherapy. After matching by propensity scoring (using age and FEV1%), differences disappear and 3-years probability of survival had no statistical differences. Conclusions: Although this is a non-randomized retrospective analysis, we have not found 3-years survival differences after matching cases between surgery and radiotherapy. Nevertheless, data presented here support the continuous investigation for non-surgical alternatives in this disease.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)413-417
JournalRadiotherapy and Oncology
Volume97
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2010

Keywords

  • Non-small cell lung cancer
  • Lung resection
  • High-dose radiotherapy
  • Propensity scoring analysis

Cite this