Table 3.

Toxicity and survival outcomes according to elective nodal irradiation status.

Outcome	ENI (N = 323)	IFRT (N = 323)	P value
Acute grade 3-4 hematologic toxicity, n (%)
Leukopenia	51 (15.7)	32 (9.9)	0.012
Anemia	23 (7.1)	14 (4.3)	0.14
Thrombocytopenia	41 (12.7)	30 (9.3)	0.32
Acute grade 3 nonhematologic toxicity, n (%)
Nausea-vomiting	109 (33.7)	67 (20.7)	0.006
Esophagitis	49 (15.2)	29 (9.0)	0.003
Pneumonitis	47 (14.5)	27 (8.4)	0.002
Peripheric neuropathy	10 (3.1)	11 (3.4)	0.76
Pericarditis	5 (1.5)	2 (0.6)	0.25
Late grade 3-4 toxicity
Lung	12 (3.7)	9 (2.8)	0.34
Esophagus	15 (4.6)	8 (2.5)	0.038
Heart	5 (1.5)	3 (0.9)	0.78
Major vessels	3 (0.9)	2 (0.6)	0.64
Late grade 5 toxicity, n (%)	6 (1.8)	4 (1.2)	0.73
Radiation pneumonitis	2 (0.6)	1 (0.3)
Tracheoesophageal fistula	2 (0.6)	1 (0.3)
Bronchopleural fistula	1 (0.3)	1 (0.3)
Aortic blow-out	1 (0.3)	1 (0.3)
Hospitalization, n (%)	58 (18.0)	28 (8.6)	<0.001
PFS
Median, mo	11.7 (10.8–12.6)	11.2 (10.2–12.4)	0.57
5-years (%)	12.1	11.6
10 years (%)	6.2	5.2
LRPFS
Median, mo	15.3 (14.3–16.3)	15.1 (14.1–16.1)	0.52
5-years (%)	13.5	13.3
10 years (%)	7.2	5.8
OS
Median, mo	25.2 (23.5–26.3)	24.6 (22.6)-26.6	0.69
5-year (%)	22.2	21.2
10 year (%)	11.9	11.1
5-year in-field failure, n (%)
Local	127 (39.3)	125 (38.7)	0.79
Regional	64 (19.8)	59 (18.3)	0.44
Local + regional	57 (17.6)	61 (18.9)	0.56
Isolated ENF
5-years (%)	11 (3.4)	14 (4.3)	0.52
10 years (%)	16 (4.9)	19 (5.9)	0.71

ENI: elective nodal irradiation; IFRT: involved-field radiotherapy; PFS: progression-free survival; LRPFS: locoregional progression-free survival; OS: overall survival; ENF: elective nodal failure.