Whole Brain Radiotherapy Does Not Benefit Patients with Brain Metastases from Lung Cancer—European Respiratory Society 2016 Congress

LONDON, UK—Whole brain radiotherapy brought no benefit to patients whose non-small cell lung cancer had metastasized to the brain in research findings published in The Lancet and presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) 2016 Congress held in London (3-7 September).

Paula Mulvenna MBBS FRCP FRCR, a consultant clinical oncologist at the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom reported final results to a joint ERS-Lancet session at the congress from the QUARTZ (Quality of Life After Treatment for Brain Metastases) controlled clinical trial.

538 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were randomized to treatment with best supportive care and dexamethasone with or without whole brain radiotherapy. Co-chair of the session, Klaus Rabe MD PhD, former president of ERS and Professor of Oncology at the LungenClinic Grosshansdorf in Grosshansdorf near, Hamburg, Germany, confirmed that the QUARTZ findings were practice-changing and that the popular practice of using whole brain radiotherapy could no longer be recommended for most patients with lung cancer.