Preliminary Results of Clinical Experience with Consolidative High-Dose Thoracic Radiotherapy for Patients with Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer

The median follow-up time was 22 months (range: 8-59 months), with the median follow-up period after completing consolidative radiotherapy being 13 months (range: 4-35 months). In-field local recurrence occurred in only one patient after consolidative thoracic radiotherapy. Most importantly, 10 patients with oligo-progressive disease at the thoracic site, at the time of tumor response, remained stable without further intrathoracic in-field recurrence. Additionally, no severe cases of radiation pneumonitis or esophagitis were observed. Based on our institution's experience, consolidative high-dose thoracic radiotherapy is well-tolerated and associated with fewer intrathoracic recurrences, leading to improved long-term survival in carefully selected patients with extensive-stage SCLC. Given these findings, we believe consolidative radiotherapy should be considered more proactively in clinical practice. Furthermore, these results may help guide the design of future clinical trials.