Improved overall survival after early recurrence of lung cancer following the introduction of CT-based follow-up for patients initially treated with curative intent by (chemo)radiotherapy (CRT)

Background: After introduction in July 2010 of follow-up by contrast enhanced CT of thorax and upper abdomen every 3 months for two years and then every 6 months for three years we found improved survival after early recurrence in patients initially treated by surgery (Eur Respir J 2015; 46 suppl 59: 264).Aim: To study overall survival of patients having early recurrence (within 24 months) after the end of CRT, and to compare follow-up by chest x-ray and CT-based follow-up.Methods: Every patient from Funen county treated by CRT with curative intent from Jan. 2005 to June 2014 was included in this population based quality assurance analysis. Survival time (from the beginning of the primary diagnostics) was updated from the Danish Lung Cancer Registry in January 2017.Results: The table shows the estimated survival (95%CI) for the patients with early recurrence in the 5½ years prior to and in the 4 years after the introduction of CT-based follow-up. The difference between the periods is statistically significant (p = 0.009, log rank test).View this table:Conclusion: The CT-based follow-up program has most likely contributed to the improved survival as the survival difference between the periods remain in Cox survival analyses adjusting for differences in patient characteristics, lung cancer type/stage, and treatment subtypes.