Application of prophylactic cranial irradiation in limited-stage small-cell lung cancer: which patients could benefit?

摘要

Aim: To analyze the role of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) on the survival for patients with limited-stage small-cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC). Patients & methods: We screened patients from SEER database. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazard model were used to evaluate factors influencing survival. Results: LS-SCLC patients who receiving PCI were associated with better overall survival (OS; p 0.001) and cancer-specific survival (CSS; p 0.001). Multivariable Cox analysis revealed PCI was an independent prognostic factor for OS (p0.001) and CSS (p0.001). In subgroup analysis, there were no OS and CSS differences between PCI and no PCI groups in black patients and patient with a tumor size 5cm (all p 0.05). Conclusion: PCI remains an effective method for most LS-SCLC patients. However, caution should be taken in recommending PCI for black patients and patients with a tumor size 5cm. Further clinical trials are necessary to validate our results and identify the most suitable patients for PCI in the modern era.