Anlotinib Combined with Cranial Radiotherapy for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients with Brain Metastasis: A Retrospectively, Control Study

INTRODUCTION: Cranial radiotherapy (CRT) is the main treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with brain metastasis (BM) and non-EGFR/ALK/ROS1-TKIs indication, and anlotinib can improve overall prognosis. However, the clinical effects of CRT combined with anlotinib for the treatment of NSCLC with BM remain unclear. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical effects of anlotinib + CRT versus CRT alone in NSCLC patients with BM and non-EGFR/ALK/ROS1-TKIs indication from September 2016 to June 2020. The progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of anlotinib + CRT versus CRT alone were analyzed. After evaluation of the clinical characteristics to generate a baseline, the independent prognostic factors for intracranial PFS (iPFS) and OS were subjected to univariate and multivariate analysis. Finally, subgroup analysis for iPFS and OS was performed to assess treatment effects using randomized stratification factors and stratified Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: This study included data for 73 patients with BM at baseline. Of the 73 patients, 45 patients received CRT alone, and 28 patients received CRT + anlotinib. There was no significant difference in clinical features between the two groups (P > 0.05). Compared with the CRT group, the combined group had longer iPFS (median iPFS [miPFS]: 3.0 months vs 11.0 months, P = 0.048). However, there were no significant differences in OS, extracranial PFS, and systemic PFS. For clinical features, univariate and multivariate analysis showed that the plus anlotinib treatment was an independent advantage predictor of iPFS (hazard ratio [HR] 0.51; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.27–0.95; P = 0.04), and age ≥57 years (HR 1.04, 95% CI 1.01–1.08, P = 0.014) and KPS score ≤80 (HR 1.04, 95% CI 1.01–1.08, P = 0.014) were independent disadvantage predictors of OS (P < 0.05). In addition, although this difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05), the patients with the anlotinib + local CRT (LCRT) treatment had the longest iPFS (miPFS: 27.0 months) and OS (median OS [mOS]: 36 months). The miPFS and mOS values for the LCRT group were 11 months and 18 months, respectively, with shorter values for whole-brain RT (WBRT) + anlotinib group, WBRT + LCRT + anlotinib group, WBRT, and WBRT + LCRT. CONCLUSION: Anlotinib can improve the intracranial lesion control and survival prognosis of NSCLC patients with CRT.