Non-small cell lung cancer with synchronous brain metastases: Identification of prognostic factors in a retrospective multicenter study (HOT 1701).

Background: Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is associated with a high incidence of brain metastasis (BM), and the prognosis of patients with NSCLC and BM is poor. This study aimed to identify the prognostic factors and elucidate the survival rates of Japanese patients with NSCLC and BM at initial diagnosis.

Methods: HOT 1701 is a retrospective multicenter study of patients with NSCLC and BM at initial diagnosis. The medical records of all consecutive patients diagnosed with advanced or recurrent NSCLC and BM at 14 institutions of the Hokkaido Lung Cancer Clinical Study Group Trial (HOT) in Japan were reviewed. The participants were categorized based on the presence or absence of driver mutations. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate median overall survival (OS). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify prognostic factors in these patients.

Results: Among 566 patients with NSCLC and BM, the median OS was 11.8 months. Patients with driver mutations survived longer than those without driver mutations. The univariate and multivariate analyses revealed 6 independent prognostic factors: age ≥65 years, poor performance status, T factor, absence of driver gene mutations, presence of extracranial metastases, and number of BM. According to the prognostic score based on these 6 factors, the patients were stratified into 3 risk groups: low-, intermediate-, and high-risk, with median OS of 27.8, 12.2, and 2.8 months, respectively.

Conclusions: We developed a new prognostic model for patients with NSCLC and BM, which may help determine prognosis at diagnosis.