Results of clinical trials of multimodality therapy for resectable nonsmall-cell lung cancer.

More than 50% of patients presenting with so-called early stage or surgical disease nonsmall-cell lung cancer will die of their cancer despite resection. Over the years, postoperative efforts to improve the survival of these patients have been disappointing. There is presently a lot of enthusiasm surrounding the strategy of preoperative or induction chemotherapy in the treatment of such patients. Worldwide, at least 4 large-scale ongoing cooperative group trials are evaluating this question at the present time. Only by completing these trials in a timely manner will we know if induction chemotherapy should become the standard of care for all patients with surgical disease nonsmall-cell lung cancer.