[Cancer chemotherapy of inoperable bronchial carcinomas (author's transl)]

The nowadays' therapeutic results in bronchogenic cancer are rather poor. However, chemotherapy-promises some improvements in remission rates and survival. These results are achievable as well as by mono and by polychemotherapy. The current clinical studies are aimed at optimal application regimes of the drugs beeing at hand. Cyclophosphamide, Methotrexate and Adriamycin are the most effective drugs for montherapy. Alkylants and Methotrexate are especially effective in the oat cell carcinomas. Many cases seem to be more benefited by polychemotherapy than by monotherapy. However, a randomized clinical trial is presented which shows that a montherapy with Adriamycin gave the same results as polychemotherapy. In the case of bronchogenic carcinoma a simultaneously given polychemotherapy is more effective than a sequentially given one. Novel approaches aiming at further improvement of therapeutic results should more consider individual tumour-biological parameters of the tumour-host relationships and possbilities of pharmacological influences upon hemostasis, tumour vascularisation and immunological defense system.