Chemotherapy preceding radiotherapy in stage III non-small cell lung cancer

Thirty-seven patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer were treated with the sequential administration of chemotherapy, consisting of Cisplatinum, VP-16 and Adriamycin, and radiotherapy. The response rate in 33 evaluable patients was 82 percent. The median survival for all evaluable patients was 11 months; 5 patients actually survived more than 24 months but all ultimately relapsed. It is concluded that treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer with the currently available tools is still unsatisfactory. Despite a high response rate our treatment protocol had only a modest impact on survival. Obviously, a concerted effort will be required to improve these results and will probably involve the development of new and better drugs.