Electron beam intraoperative radiotherapy for metastatic epidural spinal cord compression: a prospective observational study

To assess the additional effects of intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) with decompression surgery and adjuvant external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) for metastatic epidural spinal cord compression (MESCC). This single-arm institutional prospective observational study recruited patients between June 2017 and March 2020 and included those with symptoms of spinal cord compression owing to metastases, who were diagnosed using MRI. Patients with radiation-sensitive primary tumors and those who could not tolerate surgery were excluded. The treatment protocol comprised decompression surgery and electron beam IORT of 20 Gy in a single fraction followed by EBRT of 30 Gy in 10 fractions. The primary endpoints included the 1-year local failure rate and ambulatory functions. The study was closed in May 2019 owing to changes in treatment policies at our institution. Twenty patients were registered between June 2017 and May 2019. Although all patients completed surgery and IORT, 2 did not receive postoperative EBRT. Patients most commonly had colorectal cancer (4 patients), followed by thyroid cancer, renal cell carcinoma, lung cancer, breast cancer, sarcomas, and other cancers (3, 3, 2, 2, 2, and 4 patients, respectively). The median follow-up duration was 16 months (range 2-30 months); the 1-year local failure rate was 16%. On comparing ambulatory functions pre-treatment and at 1 year after treatment, improvement, no change, and worsening were observed in 3, 9, and 0 patients, respectively. This study's findings suggest that decompression surgery and IORT followed by EBRT are effective in achieving local control and maintaining ambulation in patients with MESCC.