Dose, volume, and tumor control prediction in primary radiotherapy of non-small-cell lung cancer.

Background: To evaluate the influence of total dose and tumor volume on local control and survival in primary radiotherapy of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods And Materials: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical course and CT-derived pre- and post-therapeutic tumor volume data of 135 patients with NSCLC undergoing primary radiotherapy at our department between 1989 and 1996. Among these, a total of 192 spatially separated tumor volumes (135 primary tumors, 1 additional intrapulmonary tumor, and 56 involved lymph nodes) were available for analysis.