Five-year survival following chemotherapy of non-small cell lung cancer

Five-year survival of patients with inoperable non-small cell lung carcinoma is rare. We report a patient with inoperable large cell lung carcinoma who is apparently cured after receiving a course of combination chemotherapy. As the primary treatment of inoperable non-small cell carcinoma, we recommend combination chemotherapy over radiation therapy because: Chemotherapy gives a response rate of 30-40%; Quality of survival following chemotherapy appears better than following radiation therapy; Chemotherapy following radiation therapy appears to be ineffective.