Clinical and Dosimetric Results of Proton or Photon Radiation Therapy for Large (>5 cm) Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Retrospective Analysis

Rodney Cheng En Hsieh*, Ching Hsin Lee, Hsiao Chieh Huang, Shu Wei Wu, Chen Yu Chou, Sheng Ping Hung, Chao Wei Lee, Sunil Krishnan, Bhanu Prasad Venkatesulu, Jin Chiao Lee, Yung Chih Chou, Kun Ming Chan, Po Ting Lin, Wei-Chen Lee, Chen Chun Lin, Shen Yen Lin, Ji Hong Hong

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: Our purpose was to report the clinical and dosimetric attributes of patients with large unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing proton or photon radiation therapy. Methods and Materials: We retrospectively analyzed the outcomes and dosimetric indices of 159 patients with >5 cm nonmetastatic HCC who underwent definitive radiation therapy using either protons (N = 105) or photons (N = 54) between 2014 and 2018. Additional photon plans were performed in the 105 proton-treated patients using the same dose prescription criteria for intragroup dosimetric comparison. Results: After a median follow-up of 47 months, patients with biologically effective dose (BED10) ≥ 75 Gy exhibited significantly better local control (LC; 2-year: 85.6% vs 20.5%; P < .001), progression-free survival (PFS; median, 7.4 vs 3.2 months; P < .001), and overall survival (OS; median, 18.1 vs 7.3 months; P < .001) compared with those with BED10 < 75 Gy. Notably, proton-treated patients had a significantly higher BED10 (96 vs 67 Gy; P < .001) and improved LC (2-year: 88.5% vs 33.8%; P < .001), PFS (median, 7.4 vs 3.3 months; P = .001), and OS (median, 18.9 vs 8.3 months; P < .001) than those undergoing photon radiation therapy. Furthermore, patients treated with protons had significantly lower V1 of the liver (P < .001), mean upper gastrointestinal tract dose (P < .001), and mean splenic dose (P < .001), with significantly decreased incidences of radiation-induced liver disease (P = .007), grade ≥3 upper gastrointestinal bleeding (P = .001), and grade ≥3 lymphopenia (P = .003). On multivariate analysis, proton radiation therapy consistently correlated with superior LC (P < .001), PFS (P < .001), and OS (P < .001). In intragroup dosimetric comparison, photon plans demonstrated significantly higher mean liver dose (P < .001) compared with actually delivered proton treatments, and 72 (69%) of them had mean liver dose exceeding 28 Gy, which necessitated target dose de-escalation. Conclusions: In the context of large HCC radiation therapy, a higher target BED10 was associated with improved outcomes. Notably, proton therapy has demonstrated the capability to deliver ablative doses while also being accompanied by fewer instances of severe toxicity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)712-724
Number of pages13
JournalInternational Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics
Volume118
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 01 03 2024
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/pathology
  • Humans
  • Liver Neoplasms/pathology
  • Proton Therapy/adverse effects
  • Protons
  • Radiation Injuries/etiology
  • Radiotherapy Dosage
  • Retrospective Studies

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Clinical and Dosimetric Results of Proton or Photon Radiation Therapy for Large (>5 cm) Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Retrospective Analysis'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this