Response to radiotherapy in brain metastases and survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer

The present study involves non-small cell lung (NSCLC) cancer patients with brain metastases, who were treated with radiation therapy, and our aim was to determine response rate and survival. A total of 167 patients were recruited, 155 (125 male, 30 female) of whom were evaluable. Performance status was 0-2 and histology or cytology included 66 (42.58%) adenocarcinomas, 62 (40.00%) undifferentiated and 27 (17.42%) squamous cell carcinomas. The stage of disease at diagnosis was IIIA-B in 92 (59.35%) patients and IV in 63 (40.65%). All patients had whole brain irradiation (3 Gy x5 days/week for 2 weeks to a total dose of 30 Gy), which was performed by a linear accelerator and a 6-MV photon beam. Objective response was observed in 59/155 (38.06%) patients with 17 (10.97%) complete and 42 (27.09%) partial responses, and median survival of 5 months for all patients [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.9-6.1]. Responders had statistically significant longer survival than non-responders. Although responders represented less than half of our patients with NSCLC and brain metastases, they had significantly longer survival.