A prospective evaluation of whole brain volume loss and neurocognitive decline following hippocampal-sparing prophylactic cranial irradiation for limited-stage small-cell lung cancer.

Introduction: This study evaluated an association between whole brain volume loss and neurocognitive decline following prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) for limited-stage small-cell lung cancer (SCLC).

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a prospective clinical trial that accrued patients at a single institution from 2013 to 2016. Patients with limited-stage SCLC treated with standard chemo-radiation received PCI 25 Gy/10 fractions, with mean hippocampal dose limited to < 8 Gy.