Objective:This is a retrospective study to assess the effectiveness of consolidation radiotherapy (CRT) following palliative chemotherapy in patients with metastatic or locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are not suitable for radical treatment.Methods:This study involved retrospective analysis of a prospective database of Northampton Oncology Centre from January 2005 to December 2010,63 patients with advanced/metastatic NSCLC treated at the oncology centre were enrolled.Patients were either treated with high dose (39/36 Gy /13-12 fractions,group 1) or low dose (20 Gy /5 fractions,group 2) CRT or those were not offered any CRT (group 3).Results:There was no significant difference between the three groups as regard age,sex,performance status,comorbidities or chemotherapy given.However there was a statistically significant difference as regard the stage P=0.009 with more stage IV patients at group II and III compared to group I.The mean survival for the three groups was 27 months,14 months &15 months,respectively.There was a statistically significant improvement of survival in patients treated with high dose palliative CRT compared to the other two groups (P=0.006).In multivariate analysis only the radiotherapy dose remains as the only statistical significant factor affecting the survival with hazard ratio 0.372 and confidence interval (0.147-0.726).Conclusion:Despite the limitation of our retrospective study,it is worth considering CRT approach for patients with advanced and metastatic NSCLC-not suitable for radical treatment-who have not progressed on chemotherapy.
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