title: ACR Appropriateness Criteria: nonsurgical treatment for non-small-cell lung cancer: good performance status/definitive intent.
abstract: The optimal strategy for the non-surgical definitive treatment of patients with good performance status non-small cell lung cancer (mostly with locally advanced disease) has dramatically evolved over time. This article presents evidence-based data to review this literature. Several decades ago, the standard treatment for most stage III inoperable NSCLC was definitive radiation therapy alone. Randomized trials have since shown superior results with sequential chemotherapy and radiation, and more recently with concurrent chemoradiation, the current standard of care. Studies suggest a limited role for induction or adjuvant systemic therapy in addition to concurrent chemoradiation. The role of altered radiation fractionation techniques, such as hyperfractionation for locally advanced disease or hypofractionation for early stage disease is also discussed. More recently, the application of more advanced radiation techniques has been explored, including intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and proton beam radiation. Finally, various case variants are presented as examples of state-of-the-art treatment approaches.
authors.forename: Richard M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Gewanter
authors.forename: Kenneth E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Rosenzweig
authors.forename: Joe Yujiao
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Roy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Decker
authors.forename: Sarita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dubey
authors.forename: Feng-Ming
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: Brian E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Lally
authors.forename: Corey J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Langer
authors.forename: Hoon Ku
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Movsas
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000628:therapy*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D015996:Survival Rate