Pulmonary Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy of Oligometastatic Head-and-Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: SBRT OligoLuMet HNSCC

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Study PI:

PD Dr. med. Alexander Rühle, MHBA
Alexander.ruehle@medizin.uni-leipzig.de

Deputy Study PI:

Dr. med. Franziska Nägler
Franziska.naegler@medizin.uni-leipzig.de

Study design:

• Multicenter, international retrospective study
• Collaborative study between the German Society for Radiation Oncology (DEGRO) working group „Radiosurgery and Stereotactic Radiotherapy“ and the Young DEGRO (see also https://www.degro.org/jd/aktivitaeten/young-trialists/aktuelle-projekte/)

Study objective:

• To evaluate patient and treatment factor influencing outcome in SBRT for pulmonary metastases in patients with oligometastatic head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC)

Project status:

• Data collection completed
• 1 full manuscripts published
• 1 full manuscript in preparation
• Oral presentation at ESTRO 2025

 

Major findings and results:

Nägler F, Vorbach S, Mohamed AA, Thaqi S, Adebahr S, Ehret F, Kraft J, Fabian A, Weissmann T, Kaufmann J, Drabke S, Looman EL, Waltenberger M, Kraus KM, Grohmann M, Dehl K, Rogers S, Gawish A, Becker JN, Klement RJ, Partl R, Trommer M, Grosu AL, Rimner A, Gkika E, Riesterer O, Putz F, Ganswindt U, Moustakis C, Nicolay NH, Brunner TB, Blanck O, Wittig-Sauerwein A, Balermpas P, Rühle A. Pulmonary Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy of Oligometastatic Head-and-Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Multicenter Retrospective Study. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2025 Jan 4: S0360-3016(24)03771-4. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2024.12.015. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39761798. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39761798/.

• A multicenter retrospective study across 16 centers from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
• A total of 178 patients with 284 irradiated lung metastases from oligometastatic HNSCC were analyzed.
• Median overall survival (OS): 33 months (95% CI, 26-40)
• 1-year OS: 75.8%, 2-year OS: 57.7%, 3-year OS: 47.9%
• Median progression-free survival (PFS): 9 months (95% CI, 7-11)
• 2-year cumulative incidence of local failure: 6.8% (95% CI, 4.1-11.3)
• A biologically effective dose (BED) ≥100 Gy was associated with improved local control (HR, 0.17; P = .006)
• 1 patient (0.6%) developed acute grade 3 dysphagia
• Among 146 patients assessed for chronic toxicities, only 2 (1.4%) had grade 3 events, and no grade 4-5 toxicities were observed
• Longer time from HNSCC diagnosis to first SBRT was linked to improved OS in the multivariable analysis (HR, 0.99; P = .045).