A Propensity-Matched Analysis of Survival of Clinically Diagnosed Early-Stage Lung Cancer and Biopsy-Proven Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Following Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy

PURPOSE: Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) has been increasingly regarded as a reasonable option for early-stage lung cancer patients without pretreatment pathologic results, but the efficacy and safety in a Chinese population remains unclear. The aim of this study was to compare survival outcomes and toxicities between patients with clinically diagnosed early-stage lung cancer or biopsy-proven early-stage non-small cell lung cancer and to demonstrate the rationality of this treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From May 2012 to December 2018, 56 patients with clinically diagnosed early-stage lung cancer and 60 patients with early-stage biopsy-proven were selected into non-pathological group and pathological group, respectively. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to reduce patient selection bias. Survival analysis with log-rank test was used to assess the differences of treatment outcomes, which included local control (LC), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: The median age was 76 (range 47–93) years, and the median follow-up time was 58.3 (range 4.3–95.1) months in the cohort without pathologic results. The median age was 74 (range 57–88) years, and the median follow-up time was 56.3 (range 2.6–94) months in the cohort with pathologic results. 45 matched-pair were analyzed. The 5-year LC, PFS, and OS rates in matched-pair patients with or without pathologic biopsy were 85.5% and 89.8%, 40.6% and 70.9%, and 63.2% and 76.1%, respectively. On Kaplan-Meier survival analysis after PSM analysis, there was no significant difference between patients with pathologic results versus patients with no pathologic results in terms of LC (P= 0.498) and OS (P=0.141). Of the matched-pair patients treated with SBRT, only 1 patient experienced grade 3 or above radiation pneumonitis. CONCLUSION: For early-stage lung cancer patients with medically inoperable or not suitable for invasive diagnosis, SBRT may be a good local treatment.