Clinical Study of Prophylactic Cranial Irradiation for Small-cell Lung Cancer

Objective To evaluate the effects of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) on the survival and brain metastatic rates in patients with limited-stage small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) in complete remission. Methods 64 patients with limited-stage SCLC in complete remission after chemoradiotherapy were randomly divided into prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) and control group. Patients in PCI group received irradiation to a dose of 30～36 GY after diagnosis for 5～6 months. Results The incidence of cranial metastasis was 6.25% in the PCI group as compared with 53.13% in the control group .The 1,3,5 years survival rates were 71.88%,40.63%,25% in the PCI group and 50%,21.88%,12.5% in the control group, with significant difference between the two groups . Conclusion For patients with limited-stage SCLC complete response after chemoradiotherapy, PCI can decrease the incidence of cranial metastasis and improve the survival rate.