A controlled study of postoperative radiotherapy for patients with completely resected nonsmall cell lung carcinoma. Groupe d'Etude et de Traitement des Cancers Bronchiques.

Background: Postoperative radiotherapy is commonly used to treat patients with completely resected nonsmall cell lung carcinoma, but its effect on overall survival has not been established.

Methods: After undergoing complete surgical resection, 728 patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (221 Stage I, 180 Stage II, and 327 Stage III) were randomized to receive either postoperative radiotherapy at a total dose of 60 gray or observation only . The main end point was overall survival.