Goals: A prospective multicenter study to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with inductive chemoradiotherapy for improving chances of operability. If used as first-line therapy, combined treatment improves survival and it is well tolerated with a low rate of side effects.
Patients: 42 patients with stage IIIA-B NSCLC from which 36 could be followed.
Methods: A full dose Taxotere-Cisplatin chemotherapy was given to patients with concurrent radiotherapy in 2 Gy fractions up to 60 Gy via conformal irradiation.
Results: Local response was very high and 40.47% of patients became operable while in inoperable cases consolidation chemotherapy showed similar results as other protocols. We also found a low rate of side effects. The high rate of brain metastasis suggests that prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) should be considered.