Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy versus lobectomy for operable stage I non-small-cell lung cancer: a pooled analysis of two randomised trials [1]
A pooled analysis of outcomes from two randomized trials involving SBRT or surgery for operable patients with clinical early stage NSCLC was performed. The number of patients was small (58 total) and the follow-up was a median of 35-40 mos. Overall 3-year survival was better in the SBRT group (95% vs 79%; p=0.037) whereas recurrence free survival did not differ between the groups. Grade 4 complications or death occurred in 48% of surgical patients (1 mortality) and in none of the SBRT patients.