Effect of various prognostic factors on response pattern in patients of non-small cell lung carcinoma treated with definitive concurrent chemo radiation: A mono institutional study

Abstract

Introduction: Lung cancer in India is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in men. For NSCLC, even with discovery of modern techniques to deliver high dose radiotherapy and various targeted agents for advanced disease, the overall prognosis is dismal. Various prognostic factors have been reported in literature, however, due to their heterogeneity, these may not be directly applied in clinical practice. We undertook this study to understand the impact of various prognostic factors on survival in our study population. Materials and Methods: 60 patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung carcinoma underwent concurrent chemo radiation to a total dose of 60 Gy. Prognostic factors like age, tumor volume, KPS, Pulmonary function, TNM stage, pre-treatment haemoglobin were assessed for their impact on PFS using univariate analysis, Kaplan meier and log rank test. The toxicity data was collected weekly during treatment, 6 weeks after treatment and then 3 monthly during follow up. Results: At the end of treatment, 10 patients had complete response, 25 had partial response and 25 had stable disease. KPS>70, T1-T2 primary, N0-N1 nodal status and tumor volume of 4% had significantly higher grade 3-4 radiation pneumonitis compared to patients who had