Treatment of stage II lung cancer (T1N1 and T2N1)

Adenocarcinoma and large cell carcinoma have a worse prognosis than squamous cell carcinoma in the T1N1 and T2N1 subsets. In addition, local failure is a major problem with squamous carcinoma, whereas the most common sites of first recurrence are systemic, especially the brain, in non-squamous cell carcinoma. It is clear that radiation therapy can prevent local recurrences. In addition, chemotherapy prolongs survival but systemic recurrences--especially in the brain--remain the major obstacle to improved cure rates.