International consensus on radiotherapy in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

Background

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounting for most cases. While radiotherapy has historically served as a palliative modality in metastatic NSCLC, considerable advances in its technology and the continuous development of cutting-edge therapeutic agents, such as targeted therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), are increasing its role in the multi-disciplinary management of the disease.

Methods

International radiotherapy experts were convened to consider and reach consensuses on the clinical utilities of radiotherapy in metastatic NSCLC, with the aim to provide patient-focused, up to date, evidence-based, recommendations to assist cancer specialists in the management of patients with metastatic NSCLC worldwide.

Results

Timely radiotherapy can offer rapid symptom alleviation and allow subsequent aggressive treatment approaches in patients with heavy tumor burden and/or oncologic emergencies. In addition, appropriate incorporation of radiotherapy as concurrent, consolidation, or salvage therapy makes it possible to achieve long-term survival, or even cure, for patients with oligo-metastatic disease. Cranial radiotherapy plays an important role in the management of brain metastasis, potentially augmenting the response and prolonging survival associated with targeted agents and ICIs. However, key questions remain, such as the appropriate choice of radiation techniques, optimal sequence of systemic therapies and radiotherapy, and optimal patient selection for such combination strategies. Although a strong rationale for combining radiotherapy and ICIs exists, its optimal parameters in this setting remain to be established.

Conclusions

In the modern era, radiotherapy serves not only as a palliative tool in metastatic NSCLC, but also plays active roles in patients with oligo-focal disease, CNS metastasis and receiving ICIs.

Informations de copyright

2022 Translational Lung Cancer Research. All rights reserved.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://tlcr.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/tlcr-22-644/coif). DDR’s institution received grants from BMS, AstraZeneca, Philips Health, and Beigene. JIC received speaker honoraria from Varian Medical Systems. JYC received research grant from BMS and consulting fees from Legion Healthcare Partners. Lukas Käsmann received honoraria from AMGEN. MTM received a speaker fee from Astra Zeneca and royalties from Wolters Kluwer. HD received research grant from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and lecture fee from AstraZeneca. TTS provides strategic and scientific recommendations as a member of the Advisory Board and speaker for Novocure, Inc., which is not in any way associated with the content presented in this manuscript. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.