Concurrent cisplatin/etoposide plus 3D-conformal radiotherapy followed by surgery for stage IIB (superior sulcus T3N0)/III non-small cell lung cancer yields a high rate of pathological complete response.

INTRODUCTION: Optimal preoperative treatment of stage IIB (Pancoast)/III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains undetermined and a subject of controversy. The goal of our study is to confirm feasibility and pathological response rates after induction chemoradiation (CRT) in our community-based treatment center. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients were selected according to functional and resectability criteria. Induction treatment comprised 3D conformal 4500 cGy radiotherapy delivered to the primary tumor and pathologic hilar and/or mediastinal lymph nodes on CT scan with an extra-margin of 1-1.5 cm. Concurrent chemotherapy regimen was cisplatinum 20mg/m2 d1-d5 and etoposide 50mg/m2 d1-d5, d1-5 d29-33. Within 3-4 weeks after CRT completion, operability was re-assessed accordingly. Surgery was performed 4-6 weeks after CRT completion in patients (pts) deemed resectable. Inoperable pts were referred for a 20-25 Gy boost +/-1 extra-cycle of cisplatinum+etoposide. RESULTS: From 1996 to 2005, 107 pts were initially selected for treatment and received induction chemoradiation (stage IIB-Pancoast 18, IIIA 58 and IIIB 31, squamous cell carcinoma 48%, adenocarcinoma 44%, large-cell undifferentiated carcinoma 14%). After preoperative evaluation, 72 pts (67%) had a thoracotomy (pneumonectomy 21, lobectomy 45, bilobectomy 5) and all but one (unresectable tumor) had a macroscopic complete resection. During the 3-month postoperative time, five patients (6.9%) died, four after pneumonectomy (right 3, left 1). The analysis of tumoral samples showed a pathological complete response rate or microscopic residual foci of 39.5%. Median follow-up time was 22.3 months (survivors: 36.8 months), 2-year and 3-year overall survival rates were 55% and 40%, respectively (median=26.7 months) for all the intention-to-treat population (n=107), 62% and 51% (median=36.5 months) for 71 resected pts, 41% and 16% for 36 non-resected pts (median=19.1 months). On multivariate analysis, surgical resection and tumoral necrosis >50% (or pathological complete response) were the most pertinent predictive factors of the risk of death (hazard ratio=0.50 and 0.48, p=0.006 and 0.038, respectively). CONCLUSION: Surgery was feasible after induction chemoradiation, particularly lobectomy in PS 0-1, stage IIB (Pancoast)/III NSCLC pts but pneumonectomy carries a high risk of postoperative death (particularly, right pneumonectomy). Pathological response to induction chemoradiation was complete in 39.5% of patients and was a significant predictive factor of overall survival.

Radiotherapy and chemotherapy in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer: preclinical and early clinical data.

Over the past 20 years, combined treatment with radiotherapy and second-generation chemotherapy drugs was extensively studied in patients with locally advanced NSCLC and became the standard over radiotherapy alone in patients with good performance status. Radiosensitizing properties of cisplatin have been identified in the laboratory. Close temporal administration of cisplatin and radiation is mandatory for enhanced antitumor efficacy, but results in significant toxicity to normal tissues. Early clinical studies demonstrated that the concurrent administration of cisplatin during STD-RT was feasible, with acceptable esophageal toxicity, and had the potential of significantly improving locoregional control. Carboplatin administered concurrently with accelerated HFX-RT was responsible for a higher rate of esophageal toxicity. Further improvement in survival also requires an effective treatment of micro-metastatic disease through full-dose delivery of cytotoxic drugs and the addition of at least one more active drug in conjunction with cisplatin and radiotherapy to further improve locoregional control of the disease. In most clinical studies, etoposide was the second drug of choice because of its own radiosensitizing properties and possible synergy with cisplatin. In numerous phase II studies, concurrent radiotherapy and PE resulted in reproducible results in terms of local control (30%-40%), median survival (15-18 months), survival at 2 years (35%-40%), and survival at 5 years (25%-30%). In phase III studies, these results were shown to be superior to radiotherapy alone and to induction chemotherapy followed by STD-RT. The question of the potential benefit of HFX-RT combined with PE has been addressed in phase II and III studies. At this time, there is no firm evidence that concurrent chemotherapy with HFX-RT is superior to concurrent chemotherapy with STD-RT in terms of local control and survival. Only a significant benefit in terms of local control or survival would justify the significant increase of esophageal toxicity observed with HFX-RT, which remains the main limiting factor of concurrent chemoradiotherapy with PE. Studies on postinduction surgery after concurrent chemoradiotherapy have been of major interest, demonstrating that a complete pathologic response rate of 25% to 30% could be achieved with a relatively low dose of radiation (45 Gy) and that downstaging was a major determinant for improved long-term survival. Long-term survival after trimodality treatment, however, does not appear to be significantly different from what can be achieved with concurrent chemoradiotherapy alone in phase II studies. Whether postinduction surgery is beneficial to patients with histologically proved stage III (N2) and stage IIIB patients was the question addressed in a large, recently completed phase III intergroup trial and of which the results are eagerly awaited. Over the past 10 years, further progress in radiation technology has been accomplished through three-dimensional treatment planning, multileaf collimators, and electronic portal imaging devices, leading to high-precision conformal radiotherapy and dose escalation and (it is hoped) to improved local control. Intensity-modulated radiotherapy and respiratory gating remain to be evaluated. Accurate delineation of critical organs and pretreatment analysis of toxicity-predicting factors allow for better protection of normal intrathoracic tissues such as lung and esophagus and, it is hoped, will lead to a significant reduction in the incidence of radiation esophagitis and pneumonitis. Third-generation drugs such as taxanes, vinorelbine, and gemcitabine have demonstrated high response rates in NSCLC patients with favorable toxicity profiles. These drugs have also shown major radiosensitizing properties in the laboratory and in the clinical setting, often leading, however, to excessive radiosensitization and unacceptable normal tissue toxicities when administered at full dose concurrently with radiotherapy. Weekly administration of these drugs at reduced doses during a full course of conformational radiotherapy up to 70 Gy or more, however, resulted in encouraging results in several phase II studies, with median survival in excess of 20 months and 2- and 3-year survival rates near 50% and 40%, respectively. The respective benefits of either induction or consolidation full-dose chemotherapy with these drugs, before or after concurrent chemoradiotherapy with second- or third-generation chemotherapy, are presently being evaluated in phase III studies. As a result of improved survival and enhanced local control, most of these studies show a significant increase in the incidence of brain metastases. Because the brain is often the first site of relapse after concurrent chemoradiotherapy with or without surgery, the issue of prophylactic cranial irradiation is currently being addressed in a phase III trial.

Direct treatment costs for patients with lung cancer from first recurrence to death in france.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the direct treatment cost of lung cancer management from progression to death from the viewpoint of the hospital. METHODS: A retrospective descriptive study was performed. Data from 100 patients who died of lung cancer and who had received treatment from four different types of hospital were used; the hospitals were public hospitals (teaching and non-teaching), private not-for-profit cancer centres, and private hospitals. Resource utilisation/cost data collected included the cost of diagnosis of the recurrence, the cost of hospitalisations or day care treatments and ambulatory surgery. All resources were valued in 2001 euros. RESULTS: In France, the average cost per patient was euro12 518 for the whole group (78% with non-small cell lung cancer [NSCLC], and 22% with small cell lung cancer [SCLC]), euro13 969 for patients with NSCLC and euro7369 for patients with SCLC. The higher cost of treatment in patients with NSCLC is explained by longer survival and duration of chemotherapy. In patients with NSCLC, 51% of the total cost corresponded to terminal care, with up to seven lines of chemotherapy. In patients with SCLC, the costs of diagnosis and terminal care each represented 41% of the total cost. CONCLUSIONS: The cost of treatment of recurrence of lung carcinoma is high, and is related to the number of lines of chemotherapy and the use of radiotherapy and surgery.

[Respiratory gated radiotherapy: the 4D radiotherapy]. / La radiothérapie asservie à la respiration: la radiothérapie 4D.

Respiration-gated radiotherapy offers a significant potential for improvement in the irradiation of tumor sites affected by respiratory motion such as lung, breast and liver tumors. An increased conformality of irradiation fields leading to decreased complications rates of organs at risk (lung, heart...) is expected. Respiratory gating is in line with the need for improved precision required by radiotherapy techniques such as 3D conformal radiotherapy or intensity modulated radiotherapy. Reduction of respiratory motion can be achieved by using either breath hold techniques or respiration synchronized gating techniques. Breath hold techniques can be achieved with active, in which airflow of the patient is temporarily blocked by a valve, or passive techniques, in which the patient voluntarily breath-hold. Synchronized gating techniques use external devices (CCD camera for the GEMS/Varian system tested at Curie Institute) to predict the phase of the respiration cycle while the patient breaths freely. A new strategy is currently developed: the 4D Respiration correlated CT. It consists of retrospectively reconstruct CT slices at different phases of the breathing cycle allowing to measure residual movements and to choose the optimal patient's breathing phase where tumor movements are lower. These techniques presently investigated in several medical centers worldwide. The first results are very promising.