[Radiotherapy in malignant lung tumors]

Radiation therapy is performed in many different lung cancer situations, often in combination with chemotherapy and surgery. The indications for radiotherapy are limited disease in small cell lung cancer, postoperatively in not completely operated non-small cell lung cancer, medically inoperable lung cancer and not resectable locally advanced disease. Combined-modality approaches using various permutations of three treatment modalities, namely surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, are currently under investigation. Palliative radiation therapy is able to reduce life-threatening symptoms from intrathoracic tumor as well as from distant metastases.