Postoperative radiotherapy in pIIIA-N2 non-small cell lung cancer after complete resection and adjuvant chemotherapy: A meta-analysis

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) in patients with pIIIA-N2 non-small cell lung cancer after complete resection and adjuvant chemotherapy. Methods: Electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science databases, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) were systematically searched to extract randomized control trials comparing PORT with observation in pIIIA-N2 non-small cell lung cancer patients until October 2021. Main outcomes were disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), and local recurrence. Results: Three-phase 3 randomized control trials involving 902 patients were included: 455 patients in the PORT group and 447 patients in the observation group. The methodological quality of the 3 randomized control trials were high quality. The pooled analysis revealed that PORT decreased local recurrence rate (odds ratio = 0.56, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.40-0.76). However, PORT did not improve median DFS (hazard ratio = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.71-1.00) and OS (hazard ratio = 1.02, 95% CI: 0.68-1.52). Conclusions: PORT decreased the incidence of local recurrence. However, PORT did not improve DFS and OS.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the effect of postoperative radiotherapy on patients with non-small cell lung cancer. The results showed that radiotherapy decreased the incidence of local recurrence, but did not improve disease-free survival and overall survival.