Journal of the National Cancer Institute
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J. Natl. Cancer Inst. · Mar 2007
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyRandomized controlled trial of resection versus radiotherapy after induction chemotherapy in stage IIIA-N2 non-small-cell lung cancer.
Induction chemotherapy before surgical resection increases survival compared with surgical resection alone in patients with stage IIIA-N2 non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We hypothesized that, following a response to induction chemotherapy, surgical resection would be superior to thoracic radiotherapy as locoregional therapy. ⋯ In selected patients with pathologically proven stage IIIA-N2 NSCLC and a response to induction chemotherapy, surgical resection did not improve overall or progression-free survival compared with radiotherapy. In view of its low morbidity and mortality, radiotherapy should be considered the preferred locoregional treatment for these patients.