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Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is associated with fatal complications after radiotherapy (RT) for lung cancer patients; however, the role of proton therapy to reduce the incidence of life-threatening complications is unclear. Herein, we present the preliminary results of early-stage lung cancer patients having IPF and treated with RT, with a focus on the comparison between X-ray and proton therapy.

METHODS:
From January 2010 to October 2017, we retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 264 patients with stage I-II non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with definitive RT alone. Ultimately, 30 patients (11.4%) who had underlying IPF were analyzed. Among these, X-ray and proton RT were delivered to 22 and 8 patients, respectively. Treatment-related complications and survival outcomes were compared between X-ray and proton therapy.

RESULTS:
The median follow-up duration was 11 months (range, 2 to 51 months). All living patients were followed-up at least 9 months. Treatment-related death occurred in four patients (18.2%) treated with X-ray but none with proton therapy. Most patients died within one month after the onset of pulmonary symptoms in spite of aggressive treatment. In addition, the 1-year overall survival (OS) rate in patients treated with X-ray and proton was 46.4 and 66.7%, respectively, and patients treated with proton therapy showed a tendency of better survival compared to X-ray (p = 0.081). Especially, in GAP stage II and III subgroups, patients treated with proton therapy showed significantly increased survival outcomes compared to X-ray (1-year OS rate; 50.0% versus 26.4%, p = 0.036) in univariate analysis.

CONCLUSIONS:
RT is associated with serious treatment-related complications in patients with IPF. Proton therapy may be helpful to reduce these acute and fatal complications.

Author information

Kim H1, Pyo H2, Noh JM1, Lee W1, Park B1, Park HY3, Yoo H3.
1
Department of Radiation Oncology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 06351, Republic of Korea.
2
Department of Radiation Oncology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 06351, Republic of Korea. hr.pyo@samsung.com.
3
Internal Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.