New Radiotherapy Treatment for Metastatic Cancers is Safe
A phase I trial showed that stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) proved safe for treating cancer patients with multiple metastases. However, some late adverse effects underscored the need for long-term follow-up.
SBRT is a new radiotherapy treatment method that delivers high doses of ionising radiation to tumours with great precision, minimising damage to other parts of the body while killing tumour cells.
Increasingly used by clinicians, SBRT can improve survival in cancer patients with multiple metastases, explained first author Steve Chmura, MD, PhD, of University of Chicago Medicine, and colleagues, but there is little evidence as to its safety in this application.
“Existing data include mostly treatment of 1 or 2 metastases separated widely from each other and use of differing radiation doses, toxicity reporting, image guidance, and normal tissue constraints,” they wrote. “Given the critical need, NRG Oncology NRG-BR001 trial sought to determine the safety of delivering curative-intent SBRT to patients with 3 to 4 metastases or 2 metastases within close proximity to each other.”
Patients in the study had metastatic breast, prostate, or non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Each metastasis was assigned to a metastatic location based on the potential for toxicity.
Dose-limiting toxicity (DLT; side effects severe enough to discontinue treatment) was the primary study outcome, defined as specific AEs of grades 3 to 5 related to SBRT within 180 days of treatment. Dose levels were considered to be safe if DLTs were seen in no more than one of six patients per location with metastases.
Of the evaluable 35 patients, 12 (34.3%) had breast cancer, 10 NSCLC (28.6%), and 13 (37.1%) prostate cancer, with a median of three metastases per patient.
DLT analysis WAS based on six evaluable patients in all of the metastatic locations save the liver (five evaluable patients). The authors reported there were no protocol-specified DLTs in any of the seven metastatic locations within 180 days of the initiation of treatment.
There were 50 grade 3 or 4 AEs reported in 18 patients, and eight were deemed to be linked to the treatment. Of those eight, six (including bone pain, pulmonary fibrosis, bronchial fistula, bronchial stenosis, spinal fracture, and humeral fracture) were reported in six patients over 180 days from the start of the treatment. No treatment-related deaths occurred, according to the authors.
The authors suggested that, with the number of late AEs reported in this trial, patients should be monitored closely for late toxic effects.
“Given the potential for ablative radiotherapy to improve outcomes of patients with oligometastatic cancer, the finding that SBRT is safe when delivered to 3 to 4 metastases or 2 metastases in close proximity to one another is important, and serves as the foundation for ongoing randomized trials,” wrote the authors. They noted that these include studies such as the phase II/III NCI-sponsored NRG-BR002 trial.
Source: MedPage Today
Journal information: Chmura S, et al “Evaluation of safety of stereotactic body radiotherapy for the treatment of patients with multiple metastases” JAMA Oncol 2021; DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2021.0687.
