International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics
Clinical investigation: lungPredictive value of dose-volume histogram parameters for predicting radiation pneumonitis after concurrent chemoradiation for lung cancer
Introduction
Radiation pneumonitis (RP) is one of the most common dose-limiting adverse effects of thoracic radiotherapy (RT). Severe RP after RT can be life-threatening (1). Several measures derived from dose-volume histograms (DVHs) have recently been reported as useful indicators for the occurrence of RP after thoracic RT (2). Graham et al. (3) analyzed 99 cases of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and found that the percentage of total lung volume irradiated to >20 Gy (V20) correlates well with the incidence of symptomatic RP (3).
Combining treatment modalities has proved to be superior to RT alone in the treatment of NSCLC (4). Moreover, a recent Japan Clinical Oncology Group trial showed that concurrent chemoradiation offered better local control and survival rates than those obtained by sequential chemoradiation (5). The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group study 9410 also reported that concurrent chemoradiation compared with sequential therapy yielded a better outcome with greater nonhematologic toxicity (6). Concurrent chemoradiation has become a standard method for the management of unresectable locally advanced NSCLC. In the treatment of limited small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), early concurrent chemoradiation provides better results than those provided by late concurrent chemoradiation or sequential chemoradiation (7). The purpose of the present study was to clarify whether V20 is associated with the incidence and grade of RP in cases of lung cancer treated with concurrent chemoradiation.
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Methods and materials
Between January 1999 and September 2000, 75 consecutive patients with previously untreated unresectable lung cancer were treated definitively with conventionally fractionated RT concurrent with chemotherapy, and full three-dimensional (3D) treatment planning with DVH evaluations was carried out. All patients were treated at the Hyogo Medical Center for Adults (Akashi, Japan). Of the 75 patients, 71 (58 men and 13 women, median age 67 years, range 42–79), who were followed for >3 months after
Results
The median follow-up period was 7.5 months (range 3–19). RP developed in the study patients as follows: Grade 0 in 16, Grade 1 in 35, Grade 2 in 17, Grade 3 in 1, and Grade 5 in 2. The cumulative development rate for Grade 2 RP or greater was 27.3% at 6 months and 31.2% at 12 months.
The mean V20 was 23.0% in all patients. The mean V20 by RP grade was as follows: Grade 0, 20.1%; Grade 1, 22.0%; Grade 2, 26.3%; Grade 3, 27.0%; and Grade 5, 34.5% (Table 3). The relation between V20 and RP grade
Discussion
With the popularization of 3D treatment planning, the dosimetric assessment of lung damage has been studied extensively 2, 3, 12, 13, 14, 15. However, the influence of concurrent chemotherapy on such dosimetric data has not been clarified. In general, the radiation-modifying effect is more pronounced when chemotherapy is concurrent with RT rather than when time is allowed to pass between exposures to each modality (16). Some clinical reports have indicated that the use of chemotherapy
Conclusion
The development and grade of RP after concurrent chemoradiation of lung cancer relates significantly to theV20 value. AV20 of ≤25% was associated with relatively low incidence of Grade 2 or greater RP, whereas V20 >30% was significantly associated with a high incidence of Grade 2 or greater RP. These findings may add to the baseline data for future dose-escalating studies in concurrent chemoradiation for unresectable NSCLC. Currently, we try to maintain the V20 at ≤25% (≤30% at most) in
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