What is it about?
Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is also called as “locoregional or locally advanced disease”. It comprises about one third of NSCLC patients and is very heterogeneous with varying and mostly poor prognosis. Due to its heterogeneity a general schematic management approach is not appropriate. Usually a combination of local therapy (surgery or radiotherapy – depending on functional, technical and oncological operability) with systemic therapy (platinum-based doublet chemotherapy and after chemoradiotherapy immune checkpoint inhibition) is used. A more aggressive approach has - except for specific indications - no benefit for overall survival. Until now tumour stage and the general condition of the patient are the most relevant prognostic factors. Characterizing the tumour molecularly and immunologically may lead the way to a more personalized and effective approach. At the moment after an exact staging and functional evaluation an interdisciplinary discussion in the tumour board is warranted and offers the best management strategy.
Featured Image
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
Why is it important?
A relevant part of these patients has a curative chance, if all disciplines work togethter in a multimodality setting and choose the right options for this very herterogeneous group.of tumours.
Perspectives
Locally advanced NSCLC (stage III) should get a curable disease if we combine our efforts and use translational and clinicalr trials.
Professor Rudolf M. Huber
University of Munich and Thoracic Oncology Centre Munich
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Interdisciplinary multimodality management of stage III nonsmall cell lung cancer, European Respiratory Review, June 2019, European Respiratory Society (ERS),
DOI: 10.1183/16000617.0024-2019.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
