[Adjuvant therapy of surgically treated non-small cell lung cancer]

Adjuvant treatments of non-small cell lung cancers consist of radiotherapy and chemotherapy administered jointly or separately before or after surgery. These treatments have been tested in numerous trials, notably as regards postoperative chemotherapy. For a long time the results were disappointing, and in a randomized study none of the therapeutic regimens prescribed could improve the patients' survival. New hopes of advances in this matter were raised by Goldie and Coldman whose mathematical concept recommended a systemic treatment applied as early as possible in cases with localized tumour. The advent of platinum, the results obtained in metastatic tumours by including this agent in a variety of combinations, and those obtained in localized tumours by chemotherapy and radiotherapy combined have been the second promising element. Multicentre randomized trials have been set up after the encouraging results of a feasibility study on preoperative chemotherapy.