Radiotherapy in Medically Inoperable Early Stage Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

내과적 문제로 수술이 불가능한 조기 비소세포성 폐암에서의 방사선치료

Purpose: For early stage non-small-cell lung cancer, surgical resection is the treatment of choice. But when the patients are not able to tolerate it because of medical problem and when refuse surgery, radiation therapy is considered an acceptable alternative. We report on the treatment results and the effect of achieving local control of primary tumors on survival end points, and analyze factors that may influence survival and local control. Materials and Method : We reviewed the medical records of 32 patients with medically inoperable non-small cell lung cancer treated at our institution from June, 1987 through June, 1997. All patients had a pathologic diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer and were not candidate for surgical resection because of either patients refusal (4), old age (2), lung problem (21), chest wail invasion (3) and heart problems (3). In 8 patients, there were more than 2 problems. The median age of the patients was 68 years (ranging from 60 to 86 years). Histologic cell type included souamous (24), adenocarcinoma (6) and unclassiried squamous cell (2). The clinical stages of the patients were 71 in 5, 72 in 25, 73 in 2 patients. Initial tumor size was 3.0 cm in 11, between 3.0 cm and 5.0 cm in 13 and more than 5.0 cm in 8 patients. Ail patients had taken chest x-rays, chest CT, abdomen USG and bone scan. Radiotherapy was delivered using 6 MV or 10 MV linear accelerators. The doses of primary tumor were the ranging from 54.0 Gy to 68.8 Gy (median; 61.2 Gy). The duration of treatment was from 37 days through 64 days (median; 0.5 days) and there was no treatment interruption except 1 patient due to poor general status. In 12 patients, concomitant boost technique was used. There were no neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatments such as surgery or chemotherapy. The period of follow-up was ranging from 2 months through 93 months (median; 23 months). Survival was measured from the date radiation therapy was initiated. Results : The overall survival rate was 44.6$\%$ at 2 years and 24.5$\%$ at 5 years, with the median survival time of 23 months. of the 25 deaths, 7 patients died of intercurrent illness, and cause-specific survival rate was 61.0$\%$ at 2 years and 33.5$\%$ at 5 years. The disease-free survival rate was 38.9$\%$ at 2 years and 28.3$\%$ at 5 years. The local-relapse-free survival rate was 35.1$\%$, 28.1$\%$, respectively. On univariate analysis, tumor size was significant variable of overall survival (p=0.0015, 95$\%$ C.1.; 1.4814-5.2815), disease-free survival (P=0.0022, 95$\%$ C.1., 1.4707-5.7780) and local-relapse-free survival (p=0.0015, 95$\%$ C.1., 1.2910- 4.1197). 7 stage was significant variable of overall survival (p=0.0395, 95$\%$ C.1.; 1.1084-55.9112) and had borderline significance on disease-free survival (p=0.0649, 95$\%$ C.1.; 0.8888-50.7123) and local-relapse-free survival (p=0.0582, 95$\%$ C,1.; 0.9342-52.7755). On multivariate analysis, tumor size had borderline significance on overall survival (p=0.6919, 955 C.1., 0.9610-5.1277) and local-relapse-free survival ( p=0.0585, 95$\%$ C.1.; 0.9720-4.9657). Tumor size was also significant variable of disease-free survival (p=0.0317, 95% C.1.; 1.1028-8.4968). Conclusion : Radical radiotherapy is an effective treatment for small (71 or f3 cm) tumors and can be offered as alternative to surgery in elderly or infirmed patients. But when the size of tumor is larger than 5 cm, there were few long-term survivors treated with radiotherapy alone. The use of hypefractionated radiotherapy, endobronchial boost, radisensitizer and conformal or IMRT should be consider to improve the local control rate and disease-specific survival rate.

목적 : 조기 비소세포성 폐암의 경우 수술이 최선의 치료법으로 생각 되고있다. 환자가 내과적인 질환으로 수술이 불가능한 경우, 혹은 수술을 거부한 경우 방사선치료가 수술의 대체적 치료로 사용 가능하다. 근치적방사선치료를 시행 받은 환자에서의 치료성적 및 이에 영향을 미치는 요인의 분석을 통하여 향후 치료에 도움을 얻고자 본 연구를 시행하였다. 대상 및 방법 : 서울대학교병원 치료방사선과에서 1987년 6월부터 1997년 6월 사이에 치료를 시행 받은 조직학적으로 진단된 조기 비소세포성 폐암 환자 32명을 대상으로 하였다. 수술이 불가능했던 이유로는 폐질환이 21명으로 가장 많았다. 대상환자의 중간 연령은 68세였으며, 조직학적으로는 편평상피암이 24명으로 가장 많았다. 임상 병기는 T1, T2, T3가 각각 5명, 25명, 2명이었으며, 진단시의 종양의 크기는 3$\~$5 cm가 13명으로 가장 많았다. 방사선치료는 6 MV또는 10 MV 선형가속기를 이용하여, 종양부위에 54.0$\~$68.8 Gy (중앙값; 61.2 Gy)를 조사하였고 12명의 환자에서는 동시분할조사를 시행하였다. 추적관찰기간은 2개월에서 93개월 (중앙값; 23개월)이었고, 생존기간은 치료개시일을 기준으로 산정하였다. 결과 : 전체생존률은 코년, 5년이 각각 44.6$\%$, 24.5$\%$이었으며, 무병생존률은 38.9$\%$, 28.3$\%$, 중앙생존기간은 23개월이었다. 전체환자 32명중 최종 추적관찰 시 25명이 사망하였으며, 이중 7명이 페암이외의 질환으로 사망하였다. 단변량분석 상 종양의 크기는 전체생존률과 무병생존률에 통계적으로 유의한 영향을 주는 요인으로 판정되었고 (p=0.0015, p=0.0022), T 병기는 전체생존률에 의미있는 요인으로 판정되었다(p=0.0395). 다변량분석 상 종양의 크기는 무병생존률에 통계적으로 의미있는 요인으로 판정되었으며(p=0.0317), 전체생존률에 영향을 주는 경향을 보였다 (p=0.0649). 종격동의 방사선조사 여부는 생존률에 영향을 주지 않았다. 결론 : 근치적방사선치료는 조기 비소세포성 폐암 환자로 내과적인 질환으로 수술 불가능한 경우나 환자가 수술을 거부한 경우, 특히 T1 또는 3 cm 이하의 종양에서는 수술적치료를 대치할 수 있는 치료법이다. 그러나 종양의 크기가 5 cm를 넘는 경우에는 방사선치료만으로는 장기생존자가 거의 없었으며, 따라서 이러한 환자의 치료에 있어 과분할조사나 기관지내 추가조사, 방사선감작제의 사용, 입체조형방사선치료, 강도변조방사선치료 등의 이용을 고려해야 할 것이다.