Small cell lung cancer, Prophylactic cranial irradiation, Postoperative patients, Radiation therapy, Medical physics. Medical radiology. Nuclear medicine, R895-920, Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens, RC254-282

Abstract Background The use of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) in early stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients post-surgery remains controversial. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy of PCI in resected early stage SCLC patients. Methods Relevant literature was reviewed through PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase databases. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS) were analyzed for the overall population, as well as for pathologically node-negative (pN0) and pathologically node-positive (pN+) patients. We also assessed the pooled HRs for brain metastasis-free survival (BMFS) in all patients. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to validate these results. Results A total of 13 retrospective studies were included, encompassing 3,530 postoperative SCLC patients, of whom 880 received PCI treatment. In the overall patient population, PCI significantly improved OS compared to non-PCI group (HR: 0.66, 95% CI 0.58–0.74, p