Abstract: Objective To evaluate the combined effects of endovascular stent implantation and radiotherapy on lung cancer with superiorvena cava syndrome（SVCS）. Methods Forty-six cases of lung cancer with SVCS were randomly divided into the combined stent placement and radiotherapy group （combined group） and radiotherapy alone group. The stent was implanted using seldinger method. All patients were treated with three dimensional conformal radiation therapy， 2Gy／fraction，5 fractions a week，DT 50-60Gy，5-6 weeks. The rate of clinical effect，survival and side effects of both groups were observed and compared.
ResultsThe symptoms were alleviated in combined group one week after stent implantation, while symptoms were alleviated in radiotherapy alone group 4 weeks after radiation. The patients in combined group got 19 CR and 4 PR，and patients in radiotherapy alone group got 12 CR，5 PR，4 NC and 2 PD. The response rate of combined group was 100.0％，higher than that of radiotherapy alone group（73.9％） with significant difference（P＜0.05）；3，6，9，12 month survival rate of combined group were higher than those of radiotherapy alone group （P＜0.05）. The common side effects were bone marrow suppression，adioactive pneumonia and gastrointestinal reaction, mainly in grade 1-2. There was no difference between two groups（P＞0.05）. Conclusion The endovascular stent implantation in combination with radiotherapy can relieve the obstruction quickly. So it has higher therapeutic effect and longer remission time than radiotherapy alone. It is worth of further study and expand in the clinical application.