[Postoperative radiotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer: evidence based data and clinical practice]

According to the results of the metaanalyses the postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) after completely resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is detrimental for early stages (I and II). Its role for pN2 patients is unclear. Therefore, the PORT is not recommended for patients after complete resection. However, the PORT metaanalysis raised many criticisms, because of the methodological issues and inclusion of series with outdated radiotherapy techniques. The potential advantages and disadvantages of PORT especially for stage III disease in the context of modern radiotherapy techniques and adjuvant chemotherapy regimens are discussed. Such a prospective study exploring mainly the issues of cardiac and pulmonary toxicity is currently conducted in Poland. The reasons of the common use of PORT, also for early stages of the disease, as shown by patterns of care surveys are presented in the light of the quality of surgery issues.