Stereotactic Radiosurgery With or Without Whole-Brain Radiation Therapy for Limited Brain Metastases: A Secondary Analysis of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group N0574 (Alliance) Randomized Controlled Trial

• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2017.07.045
• Publication Date: 2017-08-05T03:02:20Z
• Authors: Thomas M. Churilla; Karla V. Ballman; Paul D. Brown; Erin L. Twohy; Kurt Jaeckle; Elana Farace; Jane H. Cerhan; S. Keith Anderson; Xiomara W. Carrero; Yolanda I. Garces; Fred G. Barker; Richard Deming; Jesse G. Dixon; Stuart H. Burri; Caroline Chung; Cynthia Ménard; Volker W. Stieber; Bruce E. Pollock; Evanthia Galanis; Jan C. Buckner; Anthony L. Asher
• Keywords: Clinical endpoint

To determine whether whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT) is associated with improved overall survival among non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with favorable prognoses at diagnosis.In the N0574 trial, patients with 1 to 3 brain metastases were randomized to receive stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) or SRS plus WBRT (SRS + WBRT), with a primary endpoint of cognitive deterioration. We calculated diagnosis-specific graded prognostic assessment (DS-GPA) scores for NSCLC patients and evaluated overall survival according to receipt of WBRT and DS-GPA score using 2 separate cut-points (≥2.0 vs <2.0 and ≥2.5 vs <2.5).A total of 126 NSCLC patients were included for analysis, with median follow-up of 14.2 months. Data for DS-GPA calculation were available for 86.3% of all enrolled NSCLC patients. Overall, 50.0% of patients had DS-GPA score ≥2.0, and 23.0% of patients had DS-GPA scores ≥2.5. The SRS and SRS + WBRT groups were well balanced with regard to prognostic factors. The median survival according to receipt of WBRT was 11.3 months (+WBRT) and 17.9 months (-WBRT) for patients with DS-GPA ≥2.0 (favorable prognoses, P=.63; hazard ratio 0.86; 95% confidence interval 0.47-1.59). Median survival was 3.7 months (+WBRT) and 6.6 months (-WBRT) for patients with DS-GPA <2.0 patients (unfavorable prognoses, P=.85; hazard ratio 0.95; 95% confidence interval 0.56-1.62). Outcomes according to the receipt of WBRT and DS-GPA remained similar utilizing DS-GPA ≥2.5 as a cutoff for favorable prognoses. There was no interaction between the continuum of the DS-GPA groups and WBRT on overall survival (P=.53).We observed no significant differences in survival according to receipt of WBRT in favorable-prognosis NSCLC patients. This study further supports the approach of SRS alone in the majority of patients with limited brain metastases.