Resected non-small-cell lung cancer stage I/II: Indication for adjuvant/neoadjuvant therapy?

Complete surgical resection remains the current standard of care Non-smalt cell lung for operable patients with staged or stage-II non-small-cell lung cancer. cancer (NSCLC); However, there is a strong rationale that supports the concept of the addition Adjuvant therapy; of systemic therapy to surgery either preoperatively or postoperatively even Neo-adjuvant therapy; Surgery; in patients with early-stage disease, as distant relapse continues to be Chemotherapy; the dominant form of relapse after surgical resection of NSCLC. Earlier Radiotherapy trials of adjuvant therapy have yielded mixed results and the survival gains demonstrated have been modest at best. However, recently presented data of randomised phase-III trials showed an absolute survival benefit of 12-15% for patients with completely resected stage-IB and stage-II NSCLC receiving adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy compared with observation alone. These trials provide resounding approval for adjuvant chemotherapy being the new standard of care for patients with early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer who have undergone complete resection of the tumour. (C) 2004 Elsevier Science Ltd.