[The challenge of local control in unresectable locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer]

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is common. Approximately one out of every five patients with NSCLC has locally advanced disease that is surgically unresectable. For these patients, the disease has a poor prognosis characterized by a high rate of local disease progression or recurrence despite attempts at chemo- and radiation therapy. The purpose of this review is to describe the heterogeneity of this group of patients, to clarify the terms of the combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy and to clarify the efficacy of modern radiotherapy techniques to increase local control.