Radiation-enhancing effect of sodium glycididazole in patients suffering from non-small cell lung cancer with multiple brain metastases: A randomized, placebo-controlled study

Purpose. - Median survival of patients with brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer is poor. This study was to investigate the radiation-enhancing effect of sodium glycididazole combined with whole-brain radiotherapy of multiple brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer. Patients and methods. - Sixty-four patients with multiple brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer were included: the study group (n = 32) received whole-brain radiotherapy combined with sodium glycididazole at a dose of 700 mg/m(2) intravenous infusion 30 minutes before radiotherapy, three times a week; the control group (n = 32) only received whole-brain radiotherapy. The primary end point was central nervous system (CNS) progression-free survival and overall survival. The treatment-related toxicity was also recorded. Results. - The CNS disease control rate was better (90.6% vs 65.6%, P=0.016) in the study group than in the control group at 3 month of follow-up. The median CNS progression-free survival time was longer in the study group than in the control group (7.0 months vs 4.0 months, P=0.038). There was no significant difference of the median overall survival time between the study group and the control group (11.0 months vs 9.0 months, P=0.418). On the other hand, the treatment-related toxicity showed no statistically significant difference between these two groups (P>0.05). Conclusions. - The study indicated that sodium glycididazole was an effective, promising radiation enhancing agent that improved CNS disease control rate, extended the median CNS progression-free survival time and was well tolerated in patients suffering from non-small cell lung cancer with multiple brain metastases. (C) 2016 Societe francaise de radiotherapie oncologique (SFRO). Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.