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Use of Palliative Radiotherapy among Patients with Metastatic Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer in Puerto Rico

Valerie Quiñones-Avila^1*, Karen J. Ortiz-Ortiz^1,2, Ruth Ríos-Motta¹, Heriberto Marín-Centeno¹ and Guillermo Tortolero-Luna^2,3

¹Department of Health Services Administration, Graduate School of Public Health, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA

²Cancer Control and Population Sciences Program, University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA

³Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry, University of Puerto Rico, Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA

Received Date: Jan 31, 2021 / Accepted Date: Mar 23, 2021 / Published Date: Mar 30, 2021

Citation: Quiñones-Avila V, Ortiz-Ortiz KJ, Ríos-Motta R, Marín-Centeno H, Tortolero-Luna G (2021) Use of Palliative Radiotherapy among Patients with Metastatic Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer in Puerto Rico. J Palliat Care Med 11: 397.

Copyright: © 2021 Quiñones-Avila V, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Purpose: Palliative radiotherapy (RT) represents an important treatment opportunity for improving the quality of life in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients through the management of symptoms within the course of the illness. This study examines the patient and clinical factors associated with palliative RT use among metastatic NSCLC patients in Puerto Rico.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed using secondary data analysis from 2009-2015 from the Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry–Health Insurance Linkage Database (PRCCR-HILD). A logistic regression model was used to examine factors associated palliative RT.

Results: Among the 929 patients identified with metastatic NSCLC, 33.80% received palliative RT within the first year after diagnosis. After adjusting for other covariates, receipt of chemotherapy (ORAdj = 3.90; 95% CI = 2.91-5.45; P<0.001) and presence of symptoms (ORAdj =1.41; 95% CI =1.00-1.98; P = 0.045) were associated with increased odds of palliative RT use. Although marginally significant, patients with private health insurance had increased odds of palliative RT use (ORAdj = 1.50; 95% CI = 0.98-2.29; P = 0.061) when compared to beneficiaries of Medicaid, after adjusting by other covariates.

Conclusions: The results of this study reveal a concerning underuse of palliative RT among patients with metastatic NSCLC in Puerto Rico. Additional research is necessary to further understand the barriers to using palliative RT in the island.

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