Results of radiotherapy of primary lung cancer with reference to metastases in regional lymph nodes

The results of radiotherapy in the treatment of primary lung cancer is presented with reference to metastases in regional lymph nodes. The study involved 382 patients with histologically proven lung cancer of all cell types who, between 1945 and 1955, initially underwent definitive radiotherapy with TDFs of more than 70. The evaluable patients comprised 66 for N0, 177 for N1 and 139 for N2. Cumulative five-year survival rates for N0, N1 and N2 were 23.9%, 6.1% and 5.6%, respectively. Although surgical treatment before radiotherapy did not significantly improve a cumulative five-year survival rate for each N category, it kept patients alive longer for the median survival time (month). In 89 patients with involved mediastinal lymph nodes that specific sites were identified at the time of the surgical treatment (pN2), prolonged survival was obtained by radiotherapy if lymphatic spread was absent in the sites of No.1, No.2, No.3, No.5 and No.6. If present, however, none of patients were alive at the post-treatment time of three years. As to 155 patients with stage III disease comprising T3 and/or N2, both cumulative five-year survival rate and median survival time showed better results in the group of N2 disease than those in T3. (author)