Effects of maximum dose on local control after stereotactic body radiotherapy for oligometastatic tumors of colorectal cancer

PLoS One. 2025 Jan 3;20(1):e0313438. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0313438. eCollection 2025.

Abstract

This study aimed to identify radiotherapy dosimetric parameters related to local failure (LF)-free survival (LFFS) in patients with lung and liver oligometastases from colorectal cancer treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). We analyzed 75 oligometastatic lesions in 55 patients treated with SBRT between January 2014 and December 2021. There was no constraint or intentional increase in maximum dose. LF was defined as the progression of the treated lesion until the last follow-up or death. The dose distributions were recalculated using Monte Carlo-based algorithms. The significance of the planning target volume (PTV) biologically effective dose (BED) 10s (D2, D95, D98, Dmean) in LFFS was evaluated using Cox regression, considering sex, age, primary cancer, tumor site, oligometastatic status, multiplicity, and either tumor size or one of the volume parameters. LF occurred in 23.4% of the lesions. Lesions showing LF received significantly lower PTV D2 (146 ± 21 vs. 164 ± 23, p = 0.006). Multivariate analysis revealed that PTV D2 (< 159 Gy10 vs. ≥ 159 Gy10) was the sole dosimetric parameter associated with LFFS. Tumors equal to or larger than the median size/volume yet receiving < 159 Gy10 of PTV D2 showed the lowest LFFS following stratification by median PTV D2 combined with tumor size or volume parameters. The maximum dose (PTV D2) was significantly associated with LFFS after SBRT for lung and liver oligometastases from colorectal cancer. Increasing the maximum dose may be beneficial for managing larger tumors.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Colorectal Neoplasms* / pathology
  • Colorectal Neoplasms* / radiotherapy
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Liver Neoplasms* / radiotherapy
  • Liver Neoplasms* / secondary
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology
  • Lung Neoplasms / radiotherapy
  • Lung Neoplasms / secondary
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Metastasis
  • Radiosurgery* / methods
  • Radiotherapy Dosage*
  • Retrospective Studies

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea grant funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (No. 2021R1A2C1005342). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.