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Brief Report: Relationship Between Tumor Volume and Clinical Outcomes in Relapsed SCLC
Matthew Lu1, Hayden Byrd2, Heidi Chen3
1Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas.
Introduction:
For patients with limited-stage SCLC (LS-SCLC), tumor burden is a predictor of clinical outcomes, but there are no known data exploring whether tumor burden is a predictor of clinical outcomes in relapsed SCLC.
Methods:
In this retrospective correlative study analyzing a cohort of 93 patients with relapsed SCLC, total body tumor volume at time of relapse (TV), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were calculated and a Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the relationship between TV and PFS and OS.
Results:
A total of 93 patients with relapsed SCLC were analyzed, of whom 70% initially had extensive-stage SCLC (ES-SCLC) and 30% initially had LS-SCLC. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status and receipt of second-line therapy were significantly associated with OS in a linear fashion (p = 0.002 and p = 0.0457, respectively). TV was significantly associated with OS in a nonlinear fashion, even when controlling for Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, response to initial therapy, chemotherapy-free interval, and receipt of second-line therapy (p = 0.0031).
Conclusions:
TV was observed to be a predictor of OS in patients with relapsed SCLC. Further studies are needed to evaluate whether initiation of standard systemic therapy at lower TV is able to consistently improve PFS and OS in relapsed SCLC.
