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Updated: Nov 18, 2025
Proton Therapy Delivery and Its Clinical Application in Select Solid Tumor Malignancies
Published on: February 6, 2019
[The role of prophylactic cranial irradiation in small cell lung cancer]
L Fievet1, J-P Sculier1, A-P Meert1
1Service des soins intensifs et urgences oncologiques, clinique d'oncologie thoracique, Institut Jules-Bordet, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgique.
Introduction:
Prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) is considered standard therapeutic management in small cell lung cancer (SCLC). This is based on old randomised trials with methodological limitations, namely the absence of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. The aim of this study is to assess the risk not administering PCI when systematic brain imaging is applied.
Methods:
Retrospective study including untreated SCLC, without PCI and receiving brain imaging at the time of diagnosis. Kaplan-Meier and log-rank statistics were used for survival analyses.
Results:
Among 150 patients, 75 were possibly eligible for PCI. Thirteen patients presented with an isolated brain recurrence as the first site of progression with no other metastatic sites apparent, and in 6 patients, the brain was the only recurrent site during the whole follow-up. In the group of patients eligible for PCI, there was no statistically significant survival difference according to the brain progression status (P=0.11).
Conclusions:
The expected impact of PCI seems limited in terms of overall survival and prevention of isolated brain metastases in patients having systematic brain imaging during SCLC work-up.
