Present status of induction treatment in stage IIIA-N2 non-small cell lung cancer: a review. The Leuven Lung Cancer Group.

BACKGROUND

Surgical exploration in mediastinoscopy proven N2 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is unrewarding. Theoretical concepts suggest a beneficial role for preoperative induction treatment. The solidity of the therapeutic results with this approach in the currently available data is examined.

METHODS

Literature on induction therapy followed by surgical exploration, consisting of randomized reports and phase II reports meeting some essential criteria, are reviewed.

RESULTS

Of the twenty-four analyzed phase II studies, thirteen lack adequate surgical staging. Stratification for various important prognostic factors in N2 disease is missing in many instances. Results with induction with a cisplatinum dose of less than 80 mg/m2 seem to be inferior. The use of mitomycin-C in patients scheduled for lung resection or irradiation deserves caution. No evident difference in efficacy between induction chemotherapy or chemo-radiotherapy is suggested, but toxicity and mortality appear to be somewhat higher with chemo-radiotherapy. Pathological complete response is mainly found after an at least partial clinical response. Effect on survival in non-controlled phase II studies and small randomized reports is encouraging.

CONCLUSIONS

the role of chemotherapy induction in improving the long-term survival of N2 NSCLC is promising, but needs to be confirmed by large multi-center randomized data. Adequate surgical staging and attention to important prognostic factors in N2 disease should minimize the numerous institution based differences interfering in the currently available non-controlled studies.