[Assessment of induction therapy and resection in stage IIIb non-small cell lung cancer]

Twelve patients with stage IIIb non-small cell lung cancer underwent induction therapy and resection from January 1990 to July 1998. They were divided into two groups; group A (n = 5) received two (to four) preresectional cisplatin and videsine chemotherapy, group B (n = 7) received chemoradiotherapy (radiation with concurrent low-dose-daily cisplatin). All patients in both groups had clinically down-stage and had no major side effects preventing surgery. 3 patients underwent radical pneumonectomy and 9 patients had radical lobectomy with no operative mortality. In 9 patients the disease was pathologically downstaged. Overall five-year survival was 27%, while in group A it was 50%. In group B 2-year survival was 18% and the longest survivor had pulmonary recurrence four years after surgery. Our data show better prognosis in group A than in group B. This results suggest that chemotherapy may be superior pre-resectional therapy to chemoradiotherapy.