Purpose The efficacy and lower neurotoxicity of normal brain-sparing radiotherapy (NBS-RT) with systemic therapy in treating multiple brain metastases from non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is underexplored. This study compares whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) and NBS-RT for multiple brain metastases in NSCLC, focusing on treatment outcomes and leukoencephalopathy.
Materials and Methods This retrospective study included 503 patients with NSCLC with multiple brain metastases at a single center, treated with either WBRT or NBS-RT. Post-RT treatments included chemotherapy, targeted therapy, or immunotherapy. Main outcomes measured were intracranial control, overall survival (OS), and leukoencephalopathy incidence.
Results In this study, 441 patients received WBRT and 62 received NBS-RT, with median ages of 62 and 61 years, respectively. A significant portion of both groups, 77.3% in WBRT and 80.6% in NBS-RT, received post-RT systemic therapy. The median number of brain metastases was 10 for WBRT and 12 for NBS-RT, with median maximal diameters of 11.7 mm in WBRT and 14.4 mm in NBS-RT. After a median follow-up of 10.9 months for WBRT and 11.8 months for NBS-RT, there were no significant differences in intracranial progression (p=0.516) or OS (p=0.492) between the groups. However, WBRT patients had a higher incidence of leukoencephalopathy than NBS-RT patients (p=0.013).
Conclusion NBS-RT combined with systemic therapy was as effective in treating multiple brain metastases as WBRT and was less toxic. NBS-RT-based strategies deserve further investigation in a prospective setting.
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Characteristics and Treatment Advances of Postoperative Brain Metastasis in Different Lung Cancer Histological Types Changming Dong, Xuebin Yu, Wuqiao Bao Current Problems in Surgery.2025; : 101785. CrossRef
Purpose
We investigated the proportions of patients eligible for accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) among those with pT1-2N0 breast cancer, based on the criteria set by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the Groupe Européen de Curiethérapie and the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (GEC-ESTRO), the American Brachytherapy Society (ABS), and the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBS). Additionally, we analyzed the rate of APBI utilization among eligible patients.
Materials and Methods
Patients diagnosed with pT1-2N0 breast cancer in 2019 were accrued in four tertiary medical centers in Korea. All patients had undergone breast conserving surgery followed by radiotherapy, either whole breast irradiation or APBI. To determine which guideline best predicts the use of APBI in Korea, the F1 score and Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC) were determined for each guideline.
Results
A total of 1,251 patients were analyzed, of whom 196 (15.7%) underwent APBI. The percentages of eligible patients identified by the ASTRO, GEC-ESTRO, ABS, and ASBS criteria were 13.7%, 21.0%, 50.5%, and 63.5%, respectively. APBI was used to treat 54.4%, 37.2%, 27.1%, and 23.7% of patients eligible by the ASTRO, GEC-ESTRO, ABS, and ASBS criteria, respectively. The ASTRO guideline exhibited the highest F1 score (0.76) and MCC (0.67), thus showing the best prediction of APBI utilization in Korea.
Conclusion
The proportion of Korean breast cancer patients who are candidates for APBI is substantial. The actual rate of APBI utilization among eligible patients may suggest there is a room for risk-stratified optimization in offering radiation therapy.
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Impact of the ASTRO 2024 Guideline on Partial Breast Irradiation Eligibility in Breast Cancer Patients (KROG 24-01) Seok-Joo Chun, Sangjoon Park, Yong Bae Kim, Sung-Ja Ahn, Kyubo Kim, Kyung Hwan Shin Practical Radiation Oncology.2025; 15(3): e230. CrossRef
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical and functional outcomes in patients with primary base of tongue (BOT) cancer who received definitive radiotherapy (RT) or surgery followed by radiotherapy (SRT).
Materials and Methods
Between January 2002 andDecember 2016, 102 patientswith stage I-IVB primary BOT cancer underwent either definitive RT (n=46) or SRT (n=56), and treatment outcomeswere compared between two groups. The expression of p16 was also analyzed.
Results
The RT group had more patients with advanced T stage (T3-4) disease (58.7% vs. 35.7%, p=0.021) and who received chemotherapy (91.3% vs. 37.5%, p < 0.001) than the SRT group. At a median followup of 36.9 months (range, 3.3 to 181.5 months), the 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were 75.5% and 68.7%, respectively. With respect to treatment group, the 5-year OS and DFS in the RT and SRT groups did not differ significantly (OS, 68.7% vs. 80.5%, p=0.601; DFS, 63.1% vs. 73.1%, p=0.653). In multivariate analysis, OS differed significantly according to p16 expression (p16-negative vs. p16- positive; hazard ratio [HR], 0.145; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.025 to 0.853; p=0.033). Regarding DFS, p16 expression (p16-negative vs. p16-positive; HR, 0.164; 95% CI, 0.045 to 0.598; p=0.006) showed a significant effect in multivariate analysis. Functional defects (late grade ≥ 3 dysphagia or voice alteration) were more frequently reported in the SRT than in the RT group (16.1% vs. 2.2%, p=0.021).
Conclusion
Despite advanced disease, patients in the RT group showed comparable survival outcomes and better functional preservation than those in the SRT group.
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