Patients with stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) comprise a heterogeneous population; the role of surgical resection in this setting has been controversial. Albain and colleagues recently demonstrated that trimodality therapy with lobectomy had clinical benefit for patients with pathologic nodal N2 stage III NSCLC. We discuss the trial and its implications for future lung cancer therapy.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Albain, K. S. et al. Radiotherapy plus chemotherapy with or without surgical resection for stage III non-small-cell lung cancer: a phase III randomised controlled trial. Lancet 374, 379–386 (2009).
van Meerbeeck, J. P. et al. Randomized controlled trial of resection versus radiotherapy after induction chemotherapy in stage IIIA–N2 non-small-cell lung cancer. J. Natl Cancer Inst. 99, 442–450 (2007).
Stupp, R. et al. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy followed by surgery in selected patients with stage IIIB non-small-cell lung cancer: a multicentre phase II trial. Lancet Oncol. 10, 785–793 (2009).
Albain, K. S. et al. Concurrent cisplatin/etoposide plus chest radiotherapy followed by surgery for stages IIIA (N2) and IIIB non-small-cell lung cancer: mature results of Southwest Oncology Group phase II study 8805. J. Clin. Oncol. 13, 1880–1892 (1995).
Thomas, M. et al. Effect of preoperative chemoradiation in addition to preoperative chemotherapy: a randomised trial in stage III non-small-cell lung cancer. Lancet Oncol. 9, 636–648 (2008).
Fukuoka, M. et al. Biomarker analysis from a phase III, randomized, open-label, first-line study of gefitinib versus carboplatin/paclitaxel in clinically selected patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer in Asia (IPASS) [abstract]. J. Clin. Oncol. 27, 8006 (2009).
Kelly, K. et al. Phase III trial of maintenance gefitinib or placebo after concurrent chemoradiotherapy and docetaxel consolidation in inoperable stage III non-small-cell lung cancer: SWOG S0023. J. Clin. Oncol. 26, 2450–2456 (2008).
Koivunen, J. P. et al. EML4–ALK fusion gene and efficacy of an ALK kinase inhibitor in lung cancer. Clin. Cancer Res. 14, 4275–4283 (2008).
Karp, D. et al. High activity of the anti-IGFR antibody CP-751871 in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin in squamous NSCLC [abstract]. J. Clin. Oncol. 26, 8015 (2008).
Potti, A. et al. A genomic strategy to refine prognosis in early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer. N. Engl. J. Med. 355, 570–580 (2006).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tsao, A., Roth, J. & Herbst, R. Future directions in multimodality therapy for NSCLC. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 7, 10–12 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2009.174
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2009.174
