A comparative analysis of SRT and SRS in the treatment of brain metastases from lung adenocarcinoma

Objective To compare the clinical efficacy of stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in the treatment of brain metastases from January 2006 to December 2016, lung adenocarcinoma and analyze the related factors. Methods In this multi-center retrospective analysis, clinical data of 208 patients with brain metastases from lung adenocarcinoma were retrospectively analyzed and assigned into the SRT (n=86) and SRS groups (n=122). The clinical characteristics of patients in two groups were analyzed. The local tumor control rate, median survival time and radiation brain injury were statistically compared between two groups. Results At the end of follow-up, the objective response rates (ORR) were 70.9% and 71.3% in the SRT and SRS groups (P=0.772). The local tumor control rates at 12 months were 89% and 86% in the SRT and SRS groups (P=0.383). The median overall survival time of all patients was 14.3 months, 15.6 months in the SRT group and 13.7 months in the SRS group (P=0.349). Multivariate analysis showed that large target volume (P<0.001), low GPA score (P=0.012) and no insensitive gene mutation (P<0.001) were the main factors of poor prognosis. The incidence of late radiation brain injury was 5.8% and 14.8% in two groups (P=0.043). Conclusions SRT and SRS yield similar clinical efficacy in the treatment of brain metastases from lung adenocarcinoma. SRT may have a lower incidence of late radiation brain injury than SRS. Key words: Brain metastasis/lung neoplasms; Stereotactic radiotherapy; Stereotactic radiosurgery