Patients with non-small cell lung cancer treated with preventative brain radiation (called prophylactic cranial irradiation or PCI), significantly decrease their risk of developing brain metastases (cancer spread in the brain) by more than 50 percent (from 18 percent to 8 percent), compared to those who did not receive the treatment, according to a randomized study presented at the plenary session November 2, 2009, at the 51st Annual Meeting of American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
While there were no significant differences in quality of life, patients who received PCI did have a significantly increased risk of short and long-term memory loss. The study also found that patients who underwent PCI did not live longer than patients who did not receive this treatment.
"This is the first randomized study to analyze neurocognitive and quality of life factors for non-small cell lung cancer patients who undergo PCI," Benjamin Movsas, M.D., presenter of this Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) study and chairman of radiation oncology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit said. "With better, more targeted treatments, more lung cancer patients are surviving longer and are at increased risk of developing brain metastases. This study provides key information that will lead to a better understanding of the true risks versus benefits of this intervention."