Taofeek Kunle Owonikoko, MD

Formal discussant Taofeek Kunle Owonikoko, MD, of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, said it has been controversial whether to use once-daily or twice-daily radiation therapy in this patient population. “CONVERT is one of two studies trying to step into this gap, and it failed to provide the needed evidence in support of the expectation that higher doses of 66 Gy in a single fraction combined with chemotherapy was better than 45 Gy twice daily,” he commented.

Dr. Owonikoko said that both arms of CONVERT demonstrate the highest median survival of any study in this setting.

“Why was survival better than hypothesized? It is not clear if this reflects the patient population, treatment delivery of intended dose, or a true reflection that 66 Gy is no better than 45 Gy,” he added. Dr. Owonikoko said that the ongoing CALGB 30610 study should shed more light on the optimal schedule for radiation therapy in limited-stage SCLC. ■

Disclosure: Dr. Owonikoko is on the advisory board of Novartis, Genentech, AbbVie, Bayer, Pfizer and has received research support from BMS, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Celgene, Regeneron, G1 Therapeutics, and Takeda.