Analysis of Patients Unable to Undergo Adjuvant Chemotherapy after Surgery in Stage IIIA/B Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Will They Benefit from Mediastinal Radiotherapy?

Objectives The role of postoperative mediastinal radiotherapy in completely resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and pathological N2 disease is controversial. In clinical practice, not all lung cancer patients with histologically confirmed N2 disease and a high risk for local recurrence are able to undergo postoperative concurrent radio/chemotherapy due to their physical condition or postoperative morbidities. Mediastinal radiotherapy is less compromising than a combination of radio/chemotherapy and seems likely to be tolerable for limited patients to achieve better local tumor control.