Neoadjuvant therapy and surgical resection for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer

During the past 15 years, treatment of stage IIIA (N2) non-small cell lung cancer has evolved considerably because of improvements in patients selection, staging, and combined modality therapy. Results of several clinical trials suggest that induction chemotherapy or chemoradiation and surgical resection is superior to surgery alone. However, the optimal induction regimen has not been defined. An intergroup trial is also underway to determine whether chemoradiation and surgical resection leads to better survival than chemotherapy and radiation alone. Future studies will assess ways to combine radiation and novel chemotherapeutic agents, and will identify molecular abnormalities that predict response to induction therapy.