AUTHOR=Yang Lili , Wang Congxiao , Zhang Wei , Liu Shifeng , Xuan Tiantian , Jiang Han , Hu Xiaokun , Hu Man , Li Huanting 

TITLE=Iodine-125 brachytherapy treatment for newly diagnosed brain metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer: A biocentric analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2022.1005876

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2022.1005876

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Purpose</title><p>The aim of the present study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of iodine-125 brachytherapy for newly diagnosed brain metastasis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).</p></sec><sec><title>Materials and methods</title><p>The study included 158 NSCLC patients diagnosed with brain metastasis from December 2003 to August 2017. Ninety-nine patients underwent external beam radiotherapy (EBRT group), and 59 patients received iodine-125 brachytherapy (<sup>125</sup>I group). In addition, the 6- and 12-month progression-free survival (PFS) rates and the 12- and 24-month overall survival (OS) rates were compared between the EBRT group and the <sup>125</sup>I group. Median OS and PFS were analyzed using the Kaplan−Meier method with a log-rank test.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>The 6-month PFS rate was significantly higher in the <sup>125</sup>I group (<italic>p</italic> = 0.002) than in the EBRT group, while no differences were found in the 12-month PFS rate (<italic>p</italic> = 0.184). Additionally, the 12- (<italic>p</italic> = 0.839) and 24-month (<italic>p</italic> = 0.284) OS rates were not significantly different between the two groups. No significant differences in median OS (<italic>p</italic> = 0.525) or PFS (<italic>p</italic> = 0.425) were found between the two groups.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusions</title><p>Iodine-125 brachytherapy is an alternative therapy for patients unable to undergo surgical resection.</p></sec>