Stereotactic body radiation therapy versus sublobar resection for stage I NSCLC

Abstract Purpose To compare sublobar resection and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in patients with stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Patients undergoing sublobar resection or SBRT for stage I NSCLC from 2007 to 2014 at Duke University Medical Center were evaluated. The primary endpoint of interest was freedom from local recurrence. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates and Cox proportional hazards multivariate analyses were performed. Results 221 patients with stage I NSCLC undergoing sublobar resection (n = 151; 105 wedge and 46 segmentectomy) or SBRT (n = 70) were evaluated. The majority (89%) of patients receiving SBRT were medically inoperable, and compared with surgical patients, were significantly older (74 vs 70 years, p = 0.019), had higher Charlson Comorbidity Indices (3.7 vs 2.7, p  Conclusions SBRT and sublobar resection provided similar rates of local tumor control and overall clinical outcomes in stage I NSCLC.