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Published on: May 8, 2018
Patients With Stage III PLCNEC Advocated for Radiotherapy Combined With Chemotherapy While With Stage IV Focus on
Yuze Zhao1, Guantong Liu1, Haitao Li1
1The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong, China.
Cancer Reports (Hoboken, N.J.)
|June 3, 2026
Summary
Adding radiotherapy to chemotherapy improves survival for advanced pulmonary carcinoid neuroendocrine tumors (PLCNEC). Predictive models aid personalized treatment decisions for this rare lung cancer.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Pulmonary Medicine
- Radiotherapy Research
Background:
- Pulmonary carcinoid neuroendocrine tumors (PLCNEC) are rare, aggressive lung cancers with poor prognoses.
- Current standard treatment for advanced PLCNEC involves chemotherapy, but the role of radiotherapy is not well-defined.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of adding radiotherapy to chemotherapy on survival outcomes in advanced PLCNEC patients.
- To identify independent prognostic factors and develop predictive nomograms for PLCNEC survival.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 1086 PLCNEC patients from the SEER database (2004-2015) treated with chemotherapy.
- Application of propensity score matching (PSM) to control for confounding variables.
- Utilized Kaplan-Meier curves, Cox regression models, and developed/validated predictive nomograms.
Main Results:
- Chemoradiotherapy significantly improved overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) compared to chemotherapy alone in stage III-IV PLCNEC (p < 0.05).
- Independent prognostic factors identified include sex, N stage, M stage, surgery, and radiotherapy.
- Developed nomograms showed strong predictive accuracy for OS and CSS at 1, 3, and 5 years (AUCs ranging from 0.720 to 0.847).
Conclusions:
- Radiotherapy benefits stage III PLCNEC patients receiving chemotherapy, enhancing survival.
- The role of radiotherapy in stage IV PLCNEC is context-dependent, requiring individualized assessment.
- Proposed nomograms offer valuable prognostic information to guide personalized clinical decisions for PLCNEC management.
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