PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - RADES, DIRK
AU  - DELIKANLI, CANSU
AU  - DOEHRING, LAURA
AU  - JANSSEN, STEFAN
AU  - BOHNET, SABINE
AU  - GROH, ELISA M.
TI  - Risk Factors for Radiation Pneumonitis and a Prognostic Instrument for Very Elderly Patients With Lung Cancer
AID  - 10.21873/invivo.14081
DP  - 2025 Sep 01
TA  - In Vivo
PG  - 2818--2823
VI  - 39
IP  - 5
4099  - http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/39/5/2818.short
4100  - http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/39/5/2818.full
SO  - In Vivo2025 Sep 01; 39
AB  - Background/Aim: Elderly and very elderly patients with lung cancer have a comparably high risk of radiation pneumonitis (RP). Risk scores may help to identify these patients. We have developed a risk score for very elderly patients.Patients and Methods: Nine characteristics were retrospectively investigated in 21 patients aged ≥80 years for associations with symptomatic RP. Characteristics achieving significance or showing a trend were incorporated in the score, which was compared to a previous tool without age limit.Results: The incidence of RP was 33.3% and significantly associated with mean lung dose (MLD) >20 Gy. Trends were found for MLD >13 Gy and cardiovascular disease. Based on these characteristics, three risk groups were formed (2-5, 7-9, and 12 points). RP rates were 0.0%, 44.4%, and 100.0%. Positive (PPV) and negative (NPV) predictive values were both 100.0%. When using the previous score, PPV and NPV were 71.4% and 100%.Conclusion: Given the limitations of this study, the newly developed age-specific risk score appears to be a valuable tool for identifying very elderly lung cancer patients at high or low risk of radiation pneumonitis, and may offer improved predictive performance over previously established models.