Thorax radiotherapy using F-positron emission tomography/computed tomography-guided precision radiotherapy is a prognostic factor for survival in patients with extracranial oligometastatic non-small cell lung cancer:A two-center propensity score-matched analysis.

BACKGROUND

This retrospective study compared positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) and CT in the treatment of extracranial oligometastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and explored the impact of thorax radiotherapy (TRT) on patient survival.

METHODS

We reviewed the medical records of Chinese patients with stage IV extracranial oligometastatic NSCLC who underwent PET/CT or CT at two centers. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to control differences in patient characteristics between the maintenance chemotherapy alone and TRT plus maintenance chemotherapy groups.

RESULTS

We analyzed 192 eligible patients. The median survival time was better in patients who received PET/CT than in those who only received CT (n = 192, 16 months vs. 6 months, <0.001). Subgroup analysis showed the median survival time was significantly longer in the TRT plus maintenance group than in the chemotherapy alone group in patients who underwent PET/CT examinations (n = 94, 25 months vs. 11 months, <0.001). However, there was no statistical difference in survival between both groups in patients who underwent CT examinations (n = 98, 8 months vs. 5 months, = 0.180). A multifactorial analysis revealed a more favorable prognosis in patients who underwent PET/CT evaluation (HR: 0.343, 95% CI: 0.250-0.471, 0.001) and TRT (HR: 0.624, 95% CI: 0.464-0.840, = 0.002), than in those who did not. PSM was consistent with these results.

CONCLUSIONS

PET/CT-guided TRT is associated with improved clinical outcomes in patients with stage IV extracranial oligometastatic NSCLC.