Local control and survival after stereotactic body radiation therapy of early-stage lung cancer patients in Slovenia

BACKGROUND: Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) precisely and non-invasively delivers ablative radiation dose to tumors in early-stage lung cancer patients who are not candidates for surgery or refuse it. The aim of research was to evaluate local control, overall survival (OS), local progression free survival (LPFS), distant metastases free survival (DMFS), disease free survival (DFS) and toxicity in early-stage lung cancer patients treated with SBRT in a single tertiary cancer centre. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated medical records and radiation treatment plan parameters of 228 tumors irradiated in 206 early-stage lung cancer patients between 2016 and 2021 at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana. RESULTS: After 25 months of median follow up, 68 of 206 (33%) patients died. Median OS was 46 months (CI 36–56), 1-year, 2-year and 3-year OS were 87%, 74% and 62% and 5-year OS was 31%. A total of 45 disease progressions have been identified in 41 patients. Local progress only was noticed in 5 (2%) patients, systemic progress in 32 (16%) and combined systemic and local in 4 (2%) patients. Local control rate (LCR) at 1 year was 98%, at 2 and 3 years 96% and 95% at 5 years. The 1-, 2- and 3-year LPFS were 98%, 96% and 94%, respectively and 5-year LPFS was 82%. One, 2-, 3- and 5-year DFS were 89%, 81%, 72% and 49%, respectively. Among 28 toxicities recorded only one was Grade 4 (pneumonitis), all others were Grade 1 or 2. No differences in LCR, LPFS, DFS were found in univariate analysis comparing patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics. For OS the only statistically significant difference was found in patients with more than 3 comorbidities compared to those with less comorbidities. CONCLUSIONS: Early lung cancer treated with SBRT at single tertiary cancer centre showed that LCR, LPFS, DFS, DMFS and OS were comparable to published studies. Patients with many comorbidities had significantly worse overall survival compared to those with less comorbidities. No other significant differences by patient, tumor, or treatment characteristics were found for DMFS, LPFS, and DFS. Toxicity data confirmed that treatment was well tolerated.