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Is There a Role for Postoperative Radiotherapy in Elderly Patients with Early-Stage Non-small Cell Lung Cancer?

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Management of Lung Cancer in Older People

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Abstract

Surgery is the standard treatment of early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The risk of locoregional tumor recurrence after complete surgical resection is estimated to be as high as 10, 20, and 40 % for stage I, stage II, and stage III tumors, respectively. In this setting, the potential benefits and harms of postoperative radiotherapy have been considerably debated worldwide since the mid-1980s. The main objective of postoperative radiotherapy is to reduce the risk of local and locoregional recurrence and ultimately increase the survival of patients. Some clinical trials reported such survival benefit with postoperative radiotherapy, while other studies did not confirm this finding. Given the limited amount of data in the indexed literature about the role of postoperative radiotherapy after complete resection of early-stage NSCLC in elderly patients, this chapter will first present the available evidence about postoperative radiotherapy in the general population.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Respiratory Medicine Department and UMR 754, Louis Pradel Hospital, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Claude Bernard University, Lyon, France

    Nicolas Girard MD, PhD

  2. Radiation Oncology Department and EMR 3738, Centre Hospitalier Lyon Sud, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Claude Bernard University, Lyon, France

    Françoise Mornex MD, PhD

Authors
  1. Nicolas Girard MD, PhD
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  2. Françoise Mornex MD, PhD
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Correspondence to Françoise Mornex MD, PhD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Oncology/Hematology, S.G. Moscati Hospital, Contrada Amoretta, Avellino, 83100, Italy

    Cesare Gridelli

  2. St Helens Teaching Hospital, University of Liverpool, Marshalls Cross Road, St Helens, WA9 3DA, United Kingdom

    Riccardo A Audisio

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Girard, N., Mornex, F. (2013). Is There a Role for Postoperative Radiotherapy in Elderly Patients with Early-Stage Non-small Cell Lung Cancer?. In: Gridelli, C., Audisio, R. (eds) Management of Lung Cancer in Older People. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-793-8_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-793-8_9

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  • Print ISBN: 978-0-85729-792-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-85729-793-8

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