[Curative radiotherapy of local advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. Eight years of experience from Odense].
BACKGROUND
No previous reports on 3-D conformal radiotherapy of Danish patients with inoperable local advanced non-small-cell lung cancer have been published.


METHODS
From 1995 to 2003, 158 patients with inoperable non-small-cell stage III lung cancer received radical radiotherapy in doses of 60-66 Gy in 30-33 fractions. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was administered to 77 patients.


RESULTS
The median survival time was 15.8 months. The one, two-, three-, four-, and five-year survival rates were 61%, 35%, 23%, 19% and 17%, respectively. Gender and age had no influence on survival, while patients in performance status 2 tended to have poorer survival rate than patients in performance status 0-1. The lung function as evaluated byh FEV1 and FVC declined by 8-9% during the first year and was reduced by 9-13% after three years. The cause of death in 90% of the cases was lung cancer. In 50% of all cases, a loco-regional relapse was found, and in 41% distant metastases existed.


CONCLUSIONS
These results show that a significant number of stage III patients treated with modern radiotherapy with curative intent will be long-term survivors.
Hansen
Olfred
O
Onkologisk Afdeling R, Odense Universitetshospital, Odense C. olfred@dadlnet.dk
Paarup
Helene
H
Sørensen
Peter
P
Hansen
Karin Holmskov
KH
Werenberg
Knud Aage
KA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D011880:Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted; D020266:Radiotherapy, Conformal / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D015996:Survival Rate