Surgery and chemoradiation in stage IIIA non-small cell lung cancer]

Combination of surgery and radiotherapy has become a standard regimen in multiple cancers. Because of its toxicity and the higher metastatic potential of lung cancer, leading to underestimate the impact of loco-regional treatments, this strategy is currently used only in a clinical trial setting. Recent results from phase III studies comparing surgery and radiotherapy in stage IIIA-N2 locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer after induction treatment showed that surgery should only be performed in patients presenting with a major mediastinal downstaging and possible curative resection within a lobectomy. In all other cases, exclusive chemoradiation remains the therapeutic standard at the time. In this way, all patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer may receive induction treatment, consisting either in chemotherapy or in sequential or concurrent chemoradiation, which has shown its feasibility and its efficacy regarding tumor response, resectability and local control rates. These two induction regimens are currently compared in randomized trials including stage III resectable and unresectable tumors at time of diagnosis. These developments make treatment of locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer a model for multimodal strategies in oncology, combining chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery.