Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33987260›Full record

ArticleAnnals of translational medicine2021

pN1 but not pN0/N2 predicts survival benefits of prophylactic cranial irradiation in small-cell lung cancer patients after surgery.

Haitang Yang, Mohammad Faisal Al-Hurani, Jianlin Xu, Liwen Fan, Ralph A Schmid, Heng Zhao, Feng Yao

Open access · diamondAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Annals of translational medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 32% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Haitang YangDepartment of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Mohammad Faisal Al-HuraniDivision of General Thoracic Surgery, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Jianlin XuDepartment of Pulmonary, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Liwen FanDepartment of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Ralph A SchmidDivision of General Thoracic Surgery, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Heng ZhaoDepartment of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Feng YaoDepartment of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Shanghai Jiao Tong University · CNShanghai Chest Hospital · CNUniversity Hospital of Bern · CHUniversity of Bern · CH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundProphylactic cranial irradiation has been shown to reduce brain metastases and provide survival benefits in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). However, its role in limited-stage SCLC patients after surgery remains unclear. Further, it is unknown whether the effect of prophylactic cranial irradiation is generalizable in these patients with different pathological nodal (N0-N2) stages, a state indicating the presence of tumor metastases.

methodsWe combined data from a single medical center and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Propensity score matching analyses were performed (1:2) to evaluate the role of prophylactic cranial irradiation in SCLC patients after surgery. Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to identify predictors of survival.

results124 (18.7%) out of 664 surgically-treated SCLC patients received prophylactic cranial irradiation treatment. Within the entire cohort, multivariate Cox regression analysis identified dataset source, age, pathological T and N stages, adjuvant chemotherapy, resection type, and histology as independent prognostic factors for overall survival. Prophylactic cranial irradiation appeared to be associated with a better overall survival, but the difference is marginally significant (P=0.063). Further, we stratified patients based on the pathological N0-N2 stages using propensity score matching analyses, which showed that prophylactic cranial irradiation treatment was superior to non-prophylactic cranial irradiation treatment for surgically-treated SCLC patients with N1 stage only (univariate analysis: P=0.026; multivariate Cox: P=0.004), but not N0/N2 stage (univariate analysis: P=0.65 and P=0.28, respectively; multivariate Cox: P=0.99 and P=0.35, respectively).

conclusionsProphylactic cranial irradiation provides survival benefits for SCLC patients with pN1 after surgery but not with pathological N0/N2 stage. Our findings may provide helpful stratifications for clinical decision-making of prophylactic cranial irradiation intervention in SCLC patients.

Indexed as

nodal metastasisprophylactic cranial irradiationSmall-cell lung cancer (SCLC)surgery

Identifiers

PMID33987260
PMCPMC8105819
OpenAlexW3146029585

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.