Prognostic value of two geriatric screening tools in a cohort of older patients with early stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer treated with hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy

Objectives: To investigatewhether assessmentwith two geriatric screening tools shows a correlationwith clinicaloutcomes of patients aged 65 years or more, with early-stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (es-NSCLC) treatedwith hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy.Methods: FromMarch 2014 to June 2018we retrospectively evaluated 42 patientswith stage I and II lung tumors.Patients were assessed with Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and G8 screening tool. Median age was 74 years(range, 65–91). Stereotactic radiotherapy was performed with Helical Tomotherapy delivering 50–70 Gray (Gy)in 8–10 fractions. Toxicity was evaluated using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v4.0 criteria.Results: Median CCI and G8 scores were 6 (4–11) and 14 (12–17), respectively. With a median follow-up of14 months (3–37), we observed: 3 cases of acute Grade 2 (G2) radiation pneumonitis, 1 late G2 non-cardiacchest pain, 1 late G2 dysphagia and 1 case of late G2 radiation pneumonitis. At statistical analysis, G8 scores≤14 were significantly associated with late toxicity rates (p = .0073). Local failure was predictive of diseasefree survival and Overall Survival (p b .001 and p=.001). Death occurred in 12 patients, 6 for non-cancer relatedcauses, with 1- and 2-yrs cancer specific survival rates of 94.8% and 90%, 1- and 2-yrs OS rates of 93% and 80%,respectively.Conclusions: Our experience shows a correlation between G8 scores and late toxicity in older patients treatedwith stereotactic radiotherapy for lung cancer, suggesting the need for prospective studies evaluating its usefor the identification of patients at higher risk of adverse events.