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About · curated by Nick Boehling, MD · @nb2276

2026-05-30 ASCO Annual Meeting 2026

Caveats dominate

SPIN Score (Celiac Plexus SRS) NCT03323489

ForPancreatic cancer, intractable retroperitoneal pain, celiac SRS candidates

TL;DR89% pain response at SPIN 2 vs 32% at SPIN 0 for celiac SRS; post-hoc selection score, n=90.

Why it mattersRadiation oncology

Response is threshold-gated on baseline pain (>6 → 65.8%, rising to 85.7% at >8), and the strongest predictor was neurotoxic-chemo exposure (multivariate OR 5.1). The RT decision this moves is timing: refer for celiac SRS before neurotoxic agents. SRS dose/fractionation not reported in source (parent Lancet Oncol trial).

9 details

Post-hoc predictor analysis of the pivotal single-arm phase 2 celiac plexus SRS trial (NCT03323489, Lancet Oncol 2024). 90 evaluable pts; univariate/multivariate logistic regression with 500-iteration bootstrap internal validation.

Pancreatic-cancer pts with intractable retroperitoneal (celiac) cancer pain treated on the phase 2 SRS trial. Age and BMI were the prior-reported predictors; median baseline values not in source.

Celiac plexus radiosurgery, target D12-L2. Dose and fractionation not reported in source (specified in the parent Lancet Oncol trial), so transferability of the technique can't be judged here.

Pain response = ≥2-point reduction in average BPI-SF pain from baseline to 3 weeks. Score performance judged by optimism-corrected AUC.

Two independent predictors (severe baseline pain, no prior neurotoxic chemo) build a 0-2 score with a monotonic response gradient (see tables). Discrimination modest, AUC 0.714 corrected.

SPIN scorePain responsen
032%31
153%40
289%19
PredictorUnivariate ORMultivariate OR
Neurotoxic chemo exposure5.33 (2.13-13.4), p<0.0015.1, p=0.009
Baseline pain intensity1.73, p=0.0031.8, p=0.003
Age1.06, p=0.014dropped (collinearity)
Therapy line0.65, p=0.04dropped (collinearity)

Celiac plexus SRS is a novel non-invasive palliative option recently added to NCCN guidelines. This analysis converts the parent trial's flat response into an actionable selection score and argues for earlier use, before neurotoxic chemotherapy.

pancreatic-cancer pts with intractable retroperitoneal pain evaluated for celiac plexus SRS
Does not represent pts already exposed to neurotoxic chemotherapy (lower predicted response) or non-pancreatic retroperitoneal pain.

Post-hoc, single-arm data; predictors are associative. Internal bootstrap validation only (optimism-corrected AUC 0.714), external validation required. Subjective 3-week pain endpoint; score not prospectively tested.

Post-hoc predictor modeling of a single-arm phase 2; internal bootstrap validation only, external validation pending. Associations, not a prospectively validated selection tool.

In pancreatic-cancer pts with severe retroperitoneal pain and no prior neurotoxic chemo (SPIN 2), this supports earlier celiac plexus SRS, where 89% (n=19) achieved pain response; it does not extend to SPIN-0 pts, whose response was 32% (n=31).

  • External validation of the SPIN score in an independent cohort
  • Whether earlier SRS before neurotoxic chemo improves outcomes prospectively
  • Durability of pain response beyond 3 weeks
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