Multicentre results of stereotactic body radiotherapy for secondary liver tumours

BackgroundSurgical resection is the standard treatment for liver metastases, although for the majority of patients this is not possible. Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is an alternative local-regional therapy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the results of SBRT for secondary liver tumours from a combined multicentre database.MethodsVariables from patients treated with SBRT from four Academic Medical Centres were entered into a common database. Local tumour control and 1-year survival rates were calculated.ResultsIn total, 153 patients (91 women) 59 ± 8.4 years old with 363 metastatic liver lesions were treated with SBRT. The underlying primary tumour arose from gastrointestinal (GI), retroperitoneal and from extra-abdominal primaries in 56%, 8% and 36% of patients, respectively. Metastases, with a gross tumour volume (GTV) of 138.5 ± 126.8 cm3, were treated with a total radiation dose of 37.5 ± 8.2 Gy in 5 ± 3 fractions. The 1-year overall survival was 51% with an overall local control rate of 62% at a mean follow-up of 25.2 ± 5.9 months. A complete tumour response was observed in 32% of patients. Grade 3–5 adverse events were noted in 3% of patients.ConclusionSecondary liver tumours treated with SBRT had a high rate of local control with a low incidence of adverse events.