Efficacy of Apatinib+Radiotherapy vs. Radiotherapy alone in Patients with Advanced Multiline Therapy Failure for NSCLC

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-associated mortality worldwide, and in China. Central nervous system (CNS) metastasis is a prevalent and serious complication. The most common treatment for BM is still radiation therapy (RT). An increasing number of drugs have been shown to have intracranial activity or to sensitize tumours to radiotherapy.Methods: Our study aims to demonstrate the clinical efficacy of apatinib combined with radiotherapy vs. radiotherapy alone in the treatment of patients with advanced multiline failure for non-small-cell lung cancer with brain metastasis (BM). Eligible patients were divided into two groups: Apatinib + RT group and RT group. In the apatinib + RT group. Intracranial PFS and OS were analysed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Differences between groups were compared by the log-rank test.Results: The median intracranial PFS for the RT group and Apatinib+RT group was 5.83 months and 11.81 months (p=0.034). The median OS for the RT group and Apatinib+RT group was 9.02 months and 13.62 months (p=0.311). The Apatinib+RT group had a better intracranial PFS, but there were no significant differences between the two arms in OS. The Apatinib+RT group had significantly reduced symptoms caused by BM, mainly headache and vomiting. Most patients tolerated the side effects well. Conclusion: RT combined with apatinib could help to control intracranial metastases. The Apatinib+RT group had significantly reduced symptoms caused by BM, the safety of the two treatments was similar.