Abstract 2947
Background
We investigated whether concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) would increase survival in patients with completely resected unsuspected N2-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), compared with adjuvant chemotherapy alone.
Methods
Eligible patients were randomly assigned (1:1 ratio) to either the CCRT arm or the chemotherapy arm. In the CCRT arm, patients received concurrent thoracic radiotherapy (50 Gy in 25 fractions) with five cycles of weekly paclitaxel (50 mg/m2) and cisplatin (25 mg/m2), followed by two additional cycles of paclitaxel (175 mg/m2) plus cisplatin (80 mg/m2) at three-week intervals. In the chemotherapy arm, patients received four cycles of adjuvant paclitaxel (175 mg/m2) and carboplatin (AUC 5.5) every three weeks. The primary endpoint was disease-free survival.
Results
We enrolled and analyzed 101 patients. The median disease-free survival of the CCRT arm was 24.7 months, which was not significantly different from that of the chemotherapy arm (21.9 months; hazard ratio [HR] 0.94, 95% CI: 0.58–1.52, P = 0.40). There was no difference in overall survival (CCRT: 74.3 months, chemotherapy: 83.5 months, HR: 1.33, 95% CI: 0.71–2.49). Subgroup analysis showed chemotherapy alone increased overall survival in never-smokers and multi-station N2-positive patients. The pattern of disease recurrence was similar between the two arms.
Conclusions
There was no survival benefit from adjuvant CCRT compared with platinum-based chemotherapy alone for completely resected unsuspected N2-positive NSCLC. However, the role of sequential radiotherapy administered after adjuvant chemotherapy is being evaluated, and further study is needed to evaluate the optimal radiotherapy approach for completely resected N2-positive NSCLC.
Clinical trial identification
(NCT01066234)
Legal entity responsible for the study
Keunchil Park
Funding
None
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.