Adjuvant systemic therapy of lung cancer.

Most patients with lung cancer subjected to surgical resection are likely to have residual tumor burdens which lead to clinical relapse and death. Unfortunately, none of the systemic therapies for squamous cell, large cell and adenocarcinoma of the lung have demonstrated curative potential either in the advanced disease or in the surgical adjuvant setting. Interest in clinical trials of adjuvant therapy in lung cancer have been rekindled by three factors: 1) reports indicating the value of immunotherapy, 2) preliminary encouraging experience with new chemotherapy programs, and 3) methodologies including stage- and cell type-specific clinical trials leading to better interpretation of results. These concepts have stimulated new treatment protocol studies within the NCI-sponsored Lung Cancer Study Group, and clinical cooperative groups.