(125)I Brachytherapy in Locally Advanced Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer After Progression of Concurrent Radiochemotherapy

To investigate the safety and effectiveness of computed tomography (CT)-guided (125)I seed implantation for locally advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after progression of concurrent radiochemotherapy (CCRT). We reviewed 78 locally advanced NSCLC patients who had each one cycle of first-line CCRT but had progressive disease identified from January 2006 to February 2015 at our institution. A total of 37 patients with 44 lesions received CT-guided percutaneous (125)I seed implantation and second-line chemotherapy (group A), while 41 with 41 lesions received second-line chemotherapy (group B). Patients in group A and B received a total of 37 and 41 first cycle of CCRT treatment. The median follow-up was 19 (range 3–36) months. After the second treatment, the total response rate (RR) in tumor response accounted for 63.6% in group A, which was significantly higher than that of group B (41.5%) (P = 0.033). The median progression-free survival time (PFST) was 8.00 ± 1.09 months and 5.00 ± 0.64 months in groups A and B (P = 0.011). The 1-, 2-, and 3-year overall survival (OS) rates for group A were 56.8%, 16.2%, and 2.7%, respectively. For group B, OS rates were 36.6%, 9.8%, and 2.4%, respectively. The median OS time was 14.00 ± 1.82 months and 10.00 ± 1.37 months for groups A and B, respectively (P = 0.059). Similar toxicity reactions were found in both groups. Tumor-related clinical symptoms were significantly reduced and the patients’ quality of life was obviously improved. CT-guided (125)I seed implantation proved to be potentially beneficial in treating localized advanced NSCLC; it achieved good local control rates and relieved clinical symptoms without increasing side effects.