Treatment of superior sulcus tumor (Pancoast tumor)

It appears that combined preoperative radiation and surgery continue to offer the best survival results in patients with superior sulcus tumors. Patients with involvement of the brachial plexus, Horner's syndrome, rib invasion, and ipsilateral neck node metastases are still candidates for combined modality therapy, with expectations of survival of about 30 to 40 per cent. However, those presenting with invasion of vertebrae, involvement of subclavian vessels, and mediastinal lymph node metastases do poorly. In this latter group, treatment by high-dose external radiation alone may prove to be as effective as combined modality treatment.