RESUMEN
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: This prospective study investigated the impact of radiotherapy (RT)-planning FDG-PET/CT on management of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients still eligible for radical RT after conventional staging underwent RT-planning PET/CT and, if disease was still treatable to 60 Gy, they entered our planning study, where visually-contoured tumour volumes derived with and without PET information were compared. If PET/CT detected advanced disease, palliative therapy was given. Overall survival (OS) for palliative and curative patients was compared. RESULTS: Of 76 eligible patients, only 50 (66%) received radical chemoRT after PET/CT while 26 (34%) received palliative therapies because PET/CT detected advanced disease. Without PET, FDG-avid tumour would reside outside the planning target volume (PTV) in 36% of radical cases and in 25% <90% of the PTV would have received >95% prescribed dose. OS for all patients was 56.8% and 24.9% at 1 and 4 years, respectively. OS for patients given chemoRT was 77.5% and 35.6% at 1 and 4 years, respectively and was 32% for stage IIIA patients at 4 years. OS for patients treated palliatively was inferior (P<0.001); 16.3% and 4.1% at 1 and 4 years, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Planning PET/CT frequently changed management and was associated with excellent survival. Survival data from this study were presented in part at the 2011 World Lung Cancer Conference, Amsterdam and planning data at the 2010 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, Chicago.
Asunto(s)
Carcinoma de Pulmón de Células no Pequeñas/radioterapia , Neoplasias Pulmonares/radioterapia , Imagen Multimodal/métodos , Selección de Paciente , Tomografía de Emisión de Positrones , Tomografía Computarizada por Rayos X , Carga Tumoral , Carcinoma de Pulmón de Células no Pequeñas/diagnóstico por imagen , Carcinoma de Pulmón de Células no Pequeñas/mortalidad , Carcinoma de Pulmón de Células no Pequeñas/patología , Femenino , Humanos , Neoplasias Pulmonares/diagnóstico por imagen , Neoplasias Pulmonares/mortalidad , Neoplasias Pulmonares/patología , Masculino , Estadificación de Neoplasias , Estudios Prospectivos , Planificación de la Radioterapia Asistida por ComputadorRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tubes have largely replaced nasogastric tubes (NGTs) for nutritional support of patients with head and neck cancer undergoing curative (chemo) radiotherapy without any good scientific basis. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted to compare PEG tubes and NGTs in terms of nutritional outcomes, complications, patient satisfaction, and cost. RESULTS: There were 32 PEG and 73 NGT patients. PEG patients sustained significantly less weight loss at 6 weeks post-treatment (median 0.8 kg gain vs 3.7 kg loss, p < .001), but had a high insertion site infection rate (41%), longer median duration of use (146 vs 57 days, p < .001), and more grade 3 dysphagia in disease-free survivors at 6 months (25% vs 8%, p = .07). Patient self-assessed general physical condition and overall quality of life scores were similar in both groups. Overall costs were significantly higher for PEG patients. CONCLUSION: PEG tube use should be selective, not routine, in this patient population.