Feasibility and prognostic benefit of induction chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery in patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related death in many countries, as many patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage (1). More than one third of all patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) present with advanced disease at the time of the diagnosis (2). The standard treatment modality for patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC invading adjacent organs and/or cN2 is thought to be definitive chemoradiotherapy (3,4). However, the optimal treatment for patients with potentially “resectable” stage III NSCLC remains unclear. The standard therapy for patients with T3N0-1M0 NSCLC involving the chest wall is considered primary surgical resection. However, the prognosis of those patients has also been unsatisfactory (5,6)