Comments on treatment strategy for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
In spite of significant improvement in local and in systemic treatment, long-term survival of patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains disappointing. The main reason may be our reluctance to explore the optimal ways of combining new modalities of irradiation with the new drugs. A survey of on-going clinical trials points to weak scientific collaboration between radiotherapists and medical oncologists. A comparison of different treatment strategies reveals that only the best local treatment combined with the best systemic treatment can lead to a clinically meaningful improvement in long-term survival. Curing a higher percentage of patients is the first step in our attempts to combat therapeutic nihilism.
Zwitter
Matjaz
M
Institute of Oncology, Zaloska 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. mzwitter@onko-i.si
D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging