A Simple Scoring System Predicting the Survival Time of Patients with Bone Metastases after RT

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to develop a scoring system to predict the survival time of patients with bone metastases after radiation therapy (RT). The scoring system can guide physicians to a better selection of appropriate treatment regimens. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical records of 125 patients with bone metastases treated with RT between January 2007 and September 2010 were reviewed retrospectively. Fifteen potential prognostic factors were investigated: sex, age, Karnofsky performance score (KPS), type of primary tumor, resection of tumor before bone metastases, interval between primary tumor diagnosis and diagnosis of bone metastases, Carcinoembryonic Antigen(CEA), lung metastases before bone metastases, liver metastases before bone metastases, brain metastases before bone metastases, stage, T, N, M, and degree of cellular differentiation. RESULTS: In an univariate analysis, 10 factors were significantly associated with survival time after bone metastasis: sex, KPS, breast cancer, esophageal cancer, colorectal cancer, interval between tumor diagnosis and diagnosis of bone metastases, CEA, lung metastases before bone metastases, T-staging, and differentiation. In a multivariate analysis, 7 factors were found to be significant: sex, KPS, esophageal cancer, colorectal cancer, interval between tumor diagnosis and diagnosis of bone metastases, T-staging, and differentiation. The median survival of all patients with bone metastases after RT was 14.1 months. There were significant differences in the median survival of patients with bone metastases after RT of 4.9 months, 10.5 months, and 29.7 months in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: According to this scoring system, the survival time of patients after bone metastasis can be estimated.