The role of radiotherapy for operated lung cancer

Fifty four patients with lung cancer were treated with pulmonary resection and nodal dissection during 1976 to 1990. Eighteen cases of them were treated with additional radiation therapy. A case was preoperative, 12 cases were postoperative and 11 cases were treated at relapses. The 5-year survival for stages 1, 2, 3A and 4 cancer was 57%, 53%, 30% and 0%, respectively. Postoperative radiotherapy seems to be effective to control local recurrences in the cases who had mediastinal nodal metastases or residual tumors. However, there was no survival benefit postoperative radiotherapy for the cases without any nodal metastases. (author)