Resection of stage III non-small cell lung cancer following induction therapy

Approximately 25%-30% of all patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) present with stage III tumors. Except for specific subsets, these tumors are not usually amenable to complete surgical resection and are associated with a 5-year survival of 10% or less. Because patients with stage III NSCLC die of distant metastases, recent efforts to improve the prognosis of these tumors have focused on neoadjuvant therapy using chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy as induction treatment and subsequent surgical resection for local control. Many trial have now shown the feasibility of neoadjuvant therapy and suggest that overall survival is approximately double that seen after surgical resection or radiation alone. Future clinical trials will define whether surgical resection after induction therapy provides better local and control and survival than chemotherapy and high-dose radiation alone.