Skeletal-Related Events After Surgery With or Without Radiotherapy for Bone Metastases to Weight-Bearing Bones

Introduction In patients with metastatic disease involving weight-bearing bones, postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) is commonly administered following surgical stabilization of an impending or confirmed pathologic fracture to reduce the risk of a seeded local recurrence. The goal was to re-evaluate the beneficial effect of PORT in a modern cohort of patients and determine any potential clinical predictors of skeletal-related events (SREs) which were defined as a pathologic fracture or the necessity for radiation or surgery to the affected bone. Methods Consecutive patients undergoing surgical stabilization of metastatic disease to weight-bearing bones of the extremities between 2012 and 2019 were reviewed. Patient, disease, and treatment factors were abstracted. The cumulative incidence of SREs was determined using competing risks methodology; overall survival (OS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results A total of 82 patients were identified, 74% of whom had undergone intramedullary nail fixation and 26% internal fixation or replacement. The femur was the most commonly involved bone (94%). A majority (78%) had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 1-2. Bone-strengthening agents were given to 38% and PORT to 54%. The median PORT dose was 30 Gy in 10 fractions and the median percent coverage of surgical hardware was 100% (range, 25-100). SREs occurred in 10 of 82 patients. There were no differences between no RT and RT groups for the two-year cumulative incidence of SREs (8.2% vs 11.5%, p=0.59) or two-year cumulative incidence of local failure (10.8% vs 4.6%, p=0.53). The only identified predictors of SREs were the use of bone-strengthening agents (hazard ratio [HR] 0.22, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.05-1.06, p=0.06) and malnutrition (HR 3.69, 95% CI 0.91-14.93, p=0.07). For patients treated with PORT, a biologically effective dose or percent coverage of surgical hardware was not associated with SREs. Conclusion In this series, the addition of PORT following surgery for metastatic disease involving weight-bearing bones does not significantly affect the rate of SREs. The use of bone-strengthening agents appears protective, and malnourished patients appear particularly at high risk for future SRE.