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Vol.58 No.1 contents | Japanese/English |
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- Original Article -
The Association Between the Serum KL-6 Level and the Risk of Radiation Pneumonitis
Minehiko Inomata1, Seisuke Okazawa1, Kenta Kambara1, Shingo Imanishi1, Toru Yamada1, Toshiro Miwa1, Kentaro Yamagishi2, Kuninori Nomura2, Ryuji Hayashi3, Kazuyuki Tobe11First Department of Internal Medicine, 2Department of Radiology, 3Department of Medical Oncology, Toyama University Hospital, Japan
Background. Radiation pneumonitis is known to be a major adverse event of radiation therapy for locally advanced lung cancer. We conducted a retrospective study to analyze the association between the serum KL-6 level and the risk of radiation pneumonitis. Methods. We reviewed cases of lung cancer treated with chest radiotherapy, excluding stereotactic radiotherapy, between 2004 and 2015. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on a serum KL-6 level of 500 U/ml. Preexisting fibrosis of the lung was evaluated by chest X-ray and computed tomography. Results. In total, 69 patients with lung cancer were evaluated. In the univariate analysis of the patients with fibrosis of the lung, those with an elevated serum KL-6 level showed a higher frequency of radiation pneumonitis than those with a lower level, although no such association was detected among the patients without fibrosis (P = 0.029, Fisher's exact test). In the multivariate analysis that included fibrosis of the lung, V20, and the serum KL-6 level as independent variables, the odds ratio (95% confidential interval) for the onset of radiation pneumonitis of KL-6 (per 100 U/ml increase) was 1.0 (0.7-1.2). Conclusion. These findings suggest that an elevated serum KL-6 level is associated with radiation pneumonitis in patients with fibrosis of the lung.
key words: Lung cancer, Radiation pneumonitis, KL-6
Received: May 23, 2017
Accepted: November 30, 2017
JJLC 58 (1): 19-23, 2018
