Dose to the cardio-pulmonary system and treatment-induced electrocardiogram abnormalities in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Introduction High dose radiotherapy (RT) has been associated with unexpectedly short survival times for locally advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (LA-NSCLC) patients. Here we tested the hypothesis that cardiac substructure dose is associated with electrocardiography (ECG) assessed abnormalities after RT for LA-NSCLC. Materials and methods Pre- and post-RT ECGs were analyzed for 155 LA-NSCLC patients treated to a median of 64 Gy in 1.8–2.0 Gy fractions using intensity-modulated RT plus chemotherapy (concurrent/sequential: 64%/36%) between 2004 and 2014. ECG abnormalities were classified as new Arrhythmic, Ischemic/Pericardial, or Non-specific ( A ΔECG , I/P ΔECG , or NS ΔECG ) events. Abnormalities were modeled as time to ECG events considering death a competing risk, and the variables considered for analysis were fractionation-corrected dose-volume metrics (α/β = 3 Gy) of ten cardio-pulmonary structures (aorta, heart, heart chambers, inferior and superior vena cava, lung, pulmonary artery) and 15 disease, patient and treatment characteristics. Each abnormality was modelled using bootstrapping and a candidate predictor was suggested by a median multiple testing-adjusted p-value ≤0.05 across the 1000 generated samples. Forward-stepwise multivariate analysis was conducted in case of more than one candidate. Results At a median of eight months post-RT, the rate of A ΔECG , I/P ΔECG , and NS ΔECG was 66%, 35%, and 67%. Both A ΔECG and I/P ΔECG were associated with worse performance status (p = 0.007, 0.03), while a higher superior vena cava minimum dose was associated with NS ΔECG (p = 0.002). Conclusion This study suggests that higher radiation doses to the cardio-pulmonary system lead to non-specific ECG abnormalities. Reducing dose to this system, along with effective tumor control, is likely to decrease radiation-induced cardiac toxicity.