Clinical Outcomes of Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for Patients With Stage I Small-Cell Lung Cancer: Analysis of a Subset of the Japanese Radiological Society Multi-Institutional SBRT Study Group Database

Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is widely used as a curative treatment option for stage I non-small-cell lung cancer, but for patients with stage I small-cell lung cancer, the role of stereotactic body radiotherapy is unclear. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of a subset of patients with stage I small-cell lung cancer treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy in the database of the Japanese Radiological Society-Multi-Institutional stereotactic body radiotherapy Study Group. The 43 patients treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy for stage I small-cell lung cancer between 2004 and 2012 at 11 Japanese institutions were studied: median age = 77 years; 32 (74%) males and 11 females; and 80% were medically inoperable. The clinical stage was IA in 31 and IB in 12. In all patients, the lung tumors were pathologically proven as small-cell lung cancer. A total dose of 48 to 60 Gy was administered in 4 to 8 fractions. The median biologically effective dose (α/β = 10 Gy) was 105.6 Gy. Chemotherapy and prophylactic cranial irradiation were administered in only 8 patients, respectively. The median follow-up time was 23.2 months. The 2-year overall survival, progression-free survival, and distant metastasis-free survival rates were 72.3%, 44.6%, and 47.2%, respectively. The 2-year local control was 80.2%. Regarding the patterns of failure, distant metastasis, lymph node metastasis, and local recurrence were observed in 47%, 28%, and 16% of patients, respectively. No ≥grade 3 stereotactic body radiotherapy-related toxicities were observed. Although stereotactic body radiotherapy was thus revealed to be effective for the local control of stage I small-cell lung cancer, the incidence of distant metastases was high. Further investigations of larger cohorts are needed, including analyses of the effects of combined chemotherapy.