Changes in Pulmonary Function After Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy and After Surgery for Stage I and II Non-small Cell Lung Cancer, a Description of Two Cohorts.

Aim: To evaluate changes in pulmonary function tests (PFTs) at different follow-up durations after stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) and surgery in stage I and II non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Patients and Methods: Differences between pre-treatment- and follow-up PFTs were analyzed in 93 patients treated with surgery and 30 patients treated with SBRT for NSCLC. Follow-up durations were categorized into: early (0-9 months), middle (10-21 months) and late (≥22 months). Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to analyze differences between pre-treatment and follow-up PFTs.
Results: Forced expiratory volume in one second, forced vital capacity and diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide corrected for the actual hemoglobin level significantly diminished after surgery for all follow-up durations: 11-17% of predicted values. After SBRT, PFTs remained stable, but a declining trend of 6% (p=0.1) was observed after 22 months.
Conclusion: SBRT might lead to less treatment-related toxicity measured by PFTs than surgery in both the short and long term.
(Copyright© 2015 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.)