[Radiotherapy of bronchial cancer]

Current radiotherapy is effective both in treating the non-small cell bronchial carcinoma and the small-cell anaplastic carcinoma. The spectrum of radio-oncologic methods requires on-target determination of indication. Curative treatment of non-small cell bronchial carcinoma may yield 5-year survival rates of 11% in case of radiotherapy; if onset of treatment is early, this rate may increase to 20%. Even in elderly patients (70-75%) the results are by no means inferior compared to younger patients. Adjuvant postoperative radiotherapy is indicated in N2 cases. Palliative radiotherapy is of undisputed value in non-small cell bronchial carcinomas. For treating the non-small cell anaplastic bronchial carcinoma, radiotherapy is an essential part of a multimodal interdisciplinary therapeutic concept. In combination therapy it ensures complete remission, reduces the relapse rate and results in remarkable long-term remissions because of its essential target areas in the region of the primary tumour and the cerebrum together with chemotherapy and surgery, and hence in an improvement of the survival time.