Comparison of different chemoradiotherapy methods for bone metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer

Objective To compare the clinical efficacy and safety of concurrent chemoradiotherapy and sequential chemoradiotherapy for bone metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC). Methods This was a retrospective cohort study, in which 120 patients with bone metastases from NSCLC admitted to our hospital from June 2013 to June 2018 were enrolled.Of these patients, 60 received sequential chemotheradiotherapy and 60 patients received concurrent chemoradiotherapy.Bone pain was measured before treatment, at 1-month, 2-months into treatment, and 1-month after treatment.Short-term efficacy and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results There were no significant differences in pain relief rate at 1-month, 2-months into treatment and 1-month after treatment between the two groups(all P>0.05). Meanwhile, the objective response rate(50.0% vs.36.7%)and disease control rate(90.0% vs.83.3%)were also similar between the two groups(χ2=2.172, 1.154, P=0.141, 0.283). The incidences of toxic and side effects, including neutropenia(90.0% vs.60.0%), leukopenia(96.7% vs.63.3%)and nausea(50.0% vs.23.0%)were significantly higher in the concurrent chemoradiotherapy group than those in the sequential chemotherapy/radiotherapy group(all P 0.05). Conclusions Compared with sequential chemoradiotherapy, concurrent chemoradiotherapy has similar short-term efficacy in pain relief for bone metastasis of NSCLC, but the incidence of side effects is higher. Key words: Carcinoma, non-small cell lung; Neoplasm metastasis; Radiotherapy