Radiation Therapy in Preventing Central Nervous System (CNS) Metastases in Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Survival time is defined as time from randomization to date of death from any cause and is estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Patients last known to be alive are censored at the date of last contact. This analysis was planned to occur when all patients had been potentially followed for at least 12 months.

The HVLT-R assesses verbal learning and memory. It incorporates 6 different forms to mitigate practice effects of repeated administrations. Each form includes 12 nouns (targets) with 4 words drawn from 3 semantic categories, which differ across the 6 forms. The recall part of the test involves memorizing a list of 12 targets for 3 consecutive trials for immediate recall. The raw score is derived by summing the number of targets correctly recalled and ranges from 0 to 36 with a higher score indicating better functioning. A patient was classified with deterioration if there was a statistically significant decrease in score from baseline to one year as determined by the method of reliable change index.

The HVLT-R assesses verbal learning and memory. It incorporates 6 different forms to mitigate practice effects of repeated administrations. Each form includes 12 nouns (targets) with 4 words drawn from 3 semantic categories, which differ across the 6 forms. The delayed recall part of the test involves memorizing a list of 12 targets and recalling them after a 20-minute delay. The raw score is derived by summing the number of targets correctly recalled and ranges from 0 to 12 with a higher score indicating better functioning. A patient was classified with deterioration if there was a statistically significant decrease in score from baseline to one year as determined by the method of reliable change index.

The EORTC QLQ is an integrated system for assessing the health-related quality of life (QOL) of cancer patients participating in international clinical trials. The QLQ Core-30 (QLQ-C30 ) is a 30-item self-report questionnaire that has patients rate the items on a 4-point scale, with 1 "not at all" to 4 "very much" and is composed of both multi-item scales and single-item measures, including 5 functional scales (physical, role, emotional, cognitive, social), 3 symptom scales (fatigue, nausea and vomiting, pain), a global health status, and 6 single items (dyspnea, insomnia, appetite loss, constipation, diarrhea, financial difficulties). The raw score is calculated as the mean of component items. This score is then standardized such that all of the scales and single-item measures range in score from 0-100. A high score for the global health status represents a high QOL. An increase from baseline to one year by >= 10 points was considered deterioration.

The EORTC QLQ is an integrated system for assessing the health-related quality of life (QOL) of cancer patients participating in international clinical trials. The QLQ Core-30 (QLQ-C30 ) is a 30-item self-report questionnaire that has patients rate the items on a 4-point scale, with 1 "not at all" to 4 "very much" and is composed of both multi-item scales and single-item measures, including 5 functional scales (physical, role, emotional, cognitive, social), 3 symptom scales (fatigue, nausea and vomiting, pain), a global health status, and 6 single items (dyspnea, insomnia, appetite loss, constipation, diarrhea, financial difficulties). The raw score is calculated as the mean of component items. This score is then standardized such that all of the scales and single-item measures range in score from 0-100. A high score for a functional status represents a high QOL. An increase from baseline to one year by >= 10 points was considered deterioration.

The EORTC QLQ is an integrated system for assessing the health-related quality of life (QOL) of cancer patients participating in international clinical trials. The QLQ Core-30 (QLQ-C30 ) is a 30-item self-report questionnaire that has patients rate the items on a 4-point scale, with 1 "not at all" to 4 "very much" and is composed of both multi-item scales and single-item measures, including 5 functional scales (physical, role, emotional, cognitive, social), 3 symptom scales (fatigue, nausea and vomiting, pain), a global health status, and 6 single items (dyspnea, insomnia, appetite loss, constipation, diarrhea, financial difficulties). The raw score is calculated as the mean of component items. This score is then standardized such that all of the scales and single-item measures range in score from 0-100. A high score for a symptom scale/item represents a high level of symptomatology/problems. An increase from baseline to one year by >= 10 points was considered deterioration.

The EORTC QLQ-B20 is a 20-item self-report that assesses 11 symptom scales/items such as future uncertainty, visual disorder, motor dysfunction, and communication deficit. Items are presented as questions on a scale ranging from 1 = "not at all" to 4 = "very much." It is meant for use among brain cancer patients varying in disease stage and treatment modality (i.e. surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, etc.) and should always be complemented by the QLQ-C30. The raw score is calculated as the mean of component items. This score is then standardized such that all of the scales and single-item measures range in score from 0 to 100. A high score for a symptom scale/item represents a high level of symptomatology/problems. An increase from baseline to one year by >= 10 points was considered deterioration.

The EORTC QLQ-B20 is a 20-item self-report that assesses 11 symptom scales/items such as future uncertainty, visual disorder, motor dysfunction, and communication deficit. Items are presented as questions on a scale ranging from 1 = "not at all" to 4 = "very much." It is meant for use among brain cancer patients varying in disease stage and treatment modality (i.e. surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, etc.) and should always be complemented by the QLQ-C30. The raw score is calculated as the mean of component items. This score is then standardized such that all of the scales and single-item measures range in score from 0 to 100. A high score for a symptom scale/item represents a high level of symptomatology/problems. An increase from baseline to one year by >= 10 points was considered deterioration.

The presence of metastases were determined by computerized tomography (CT) of the brain with and without contrast or by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain with and without gadolinium, using the same method that was done prior to study entry.