A current review of dose-escalated radiotherapy in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Background. The mainstay therapy for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer is concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Loco-regional recurrence constitutes the predominant failure patterns. Previous studies confirmed the relationship between increased biological equivalent doses and improved overall survival. However, the large randomized phase III study, RTOG 0617, failed to demonstrate the benefit of dose-escalation to 74 Gy compared with 60 Gy by simply increasing fraction numbers. Conclusions. Though effective dose-escalation methods have been explored, including altered fractionation, adapting individualized increments for different patients, and adopting new technologies and new equipment such as new radiation therapy, no consensus has been achieved yet.