title: Target volume for postoperative radiotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer: results from a prospective trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A previous prospective trial reported that three-dimensional conformal postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) for pN2 NSCLC patients using a limited clinical target volume (CTV) had a late morbidity rate and pulmonary function that did not differ from those observed in pN1 patients treated with surgery without PORT. The aim of this study was to assess locoregional control and localization of failure in patients treated with PORT.
  
  
  METHODS
  The pattern of locoregional failure was evaluated retrospectively in 151 of 171 patients included in the PORT arm. The CTV included the involved lymph node stations and those with a risk of invasion >10%. Competing risk analysis was used to assess the incidence of locoregional failure and its location outside the CTV.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall survival at 5years was 27.1% with a median follow-up of 67months for 40 living patients. The 5-year cumulative incidence of locoregional failure was 19.4% (95% CI: 18.2-20.5%) including a failure rate of 2% (95% CI: 0-17%) in locations outside or at the border of the CTV.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of limited CTV was associated with acceptable risk of geographic miss. Overall locoregional control was similar to that reported by other studies using PORT for pN2 patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, The Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Centre and Institute of Oncology, Warsaw, Poland. lucynak@coi.pl
authors.forename: Lucyna
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kępka
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bujko
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bujko
authors.forename: Mirosława
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matecka-Nowak
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salata
authors.forename: Henryk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Janowski
authors.forename: Danuta
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rogowska
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cieślak-Żerańska
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Komosińska
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zawadzka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D047368:Tumor Burden
keywords: Non-small cell lung cancer; Postoperative radiotherapy; Target volume