RESULTS For patients who have undergone surgical resection , high-level evidence suggests that use of postoperative RT does not influence survival , but optimizes local control for patients with N2 involvement , and its use in the setting of positive margins or gross primary /nodal residual disease is recommended .
No high-level evidence exists for the routine use of preoperative induction chemoradiation therapy ; however , modern surgical series and a post-hoc Intergroup 0139 clinical trial analysis suggest that a survival benefit may exist if patients are properly selected and surgical techniques/postoperative care is optimized .
PURPOSE To provide guidance to physicians and patients with regard to the use of adjuvant external beam radiation therapy ( RT ) in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer ( LA NSCLC ) based on available medical evidence complemented by consensus-based expert opinion .
Cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with completely resected non-small-cell lung cancer.
BACKGROUND On the basis of a previous meta- analysis , the International Adjuvant Lung Cancer Trial was design ed to evaluate the effect of cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy on survival after complete resection of non-small-cell lung cancer . METHODS We r and omly assigned patients either to three or four cycles of cisplatin-based chemotherapy or to observation . Before r and omization , each center determined the pathological stages to include , its policy for chemotherapy ( the dose of cisplatin and the drug to be combined with cisplatin ) , and its postoperative radiotherapy policy . The main end point was overall survival . RESULTS A total of 1867 patients underwent r and omization ; 36.5 percent had pathological stage I disease , 24.2 percent stage II , and 39.3 percent stage III . The drug allocated with cisplatin was etoposide in 56.5 percent of patients , vinorelbine in 26.8 percent , vinblastine in 11.0 percent , and vindesine in 5.8 percent . Of the 932 patients assigned to chemotherapy , 73.8 percent received at least 240 mg of cisplatin per square meter of body-surface area . The median duration of follow-up was 56 months . Patients assigned to chemotherapy had a significantly higher survival rate than those assigned to observation ( 44.5 percent vs. 40.4 percent at five years [ 469 deaths vs. 504 ] ; hazard ratio for death , 0.86 ; 95 percent confidence interval , 0.76 to 0.98 ; P<0.03 ) . Patients assigned to chemotherapy also had a significantly higher disease-free survival rate than those assigned to observation ( 39.4 percent vs. 34.3 percent at five years [ 518 events vs. 577 ] ; hazard ratio , 0.83 ; 95 percent confidence interval , 0.74 to 0.94 ; P<0.003 ) . There were no significant interactions with prespecified factors . Seven patients ( 0.8 percent ) died of chemotherapy-induced toxic effects . CONCLUSIONS Cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy improves survival among patients with completely resected non-small-cell lung cancer
RESULTS For patients who have undergone surgical resection , high-level evidence suggests that use of postoperative RT does not influence survival , but optimizes local control for patients with N2 involvement , and its use in the setting of positive margins or gross primary /nodal residual disease is recommended .
No high-level evidence exists for the routine use of preoperative induction chemoradiation therapy ; however , modern surgical series and a post-hoc Intergroup 0139 clinical trial analysis suggest that a survival benefit may exist if patients are properly selected and surgical techniques/postoperative care is optimized .
PURPOSE To provide guidance to physicians and patients with regard to the use of adjuvant external beam radiation therapy ( RT ) in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer ( LA NSCLC ) based on available medical evidence complemented by consensus-based expert opinion .