Short-term efficacy and safety of palliative radiotherapy combined with apatinib in treating advanced lung cancer

  Objective  To observe the short-term efficacy and safety of palliative radiotherapy combined with apatinib for advanced lung cancer.

  Methods  Data of 40 patients with advanced lung cancer was retrospectively studied. Patients were divided into observation group (n=20) and control group (n=20) according to the treatment methods. In the observation group, patients received both palliative radiotherapy and apatinib, while in the control group, patients received palliative radiotherapy only. The total clinical short-term efficacy, clinical symptomscores and incidence of side effects between the two groups were compared.

  Results  The short-term objective remission rate and disease control rate of the observation group were 70.00% and 90.00%, respectively, which were higher than those of the control group (30.00% and 60.00%, respectively) (P < 0.05). The pain score, asthma score and pleural fluid score in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The incidence of hypertension in the observation group was higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of other toxic reactions between the two groups (P>0.05).

  Conclusion  When compared with palliative radiotherapy alone, palliative radiotherapy combined with apatinib shows better short-term effect, improved clinical symptoms and higher safety.