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3. Radiation therapy
Author(s) -
Ball David L,
Burmeister Bryan H,
Ball David L,
Burmeister Bryan H
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1997.tb123325.x
Subject(s) - radiation therapy , medicine , medical physics
Synopsis The most important role of radiation therapy in NSCLC is the palliation of symptoms due to intrathoracic and metastatic disease. Short courses of treatment appear to be as effective as protracted courses. In patients with good performance status and no evidence of distant metastases, high dose radiation therapy (radical radiation therapy) provides short term survival benefits. Up to a quarter of stage I patients may survive for five years. Combinations of chemotherapy and radiation therapy appear to be more effective than radiation therapy alone, and sufficient evidence now exists to support combined radiation therapy and platinum‐based chemotherapy as the best standard of care for patients with good performance status and unresectable disease.