Palliative radiation for stage 3 non-small cell lung cancer--a prospective study of two moderately high dose regimens.

Eighty four patients from Groote Schuur Hospital and Frere Hospital East London were entered into a prospective randomised trial between January 1990 and December 1993. All the patients possessed non-small cell carcinoma (NSCLC) of the lung too extensive for radical irradiation and World Health Organization performance status 0-2. The patients were randomised to receive either 35 Gy in 10 fractions (43 patients) or 45 Gy in 15 fractions (41 patients). In the patients treated to 35 Gy and 45 Gy, the median survival was 8.5 months in both groups, the symptomatic response rate was 68% and 76% and the incidence of moderate to severe radiation oesophagitis was 23% and 41% respectively. The latter approached statistical significance (P = 0.07, chi square). There was no evidence of a dose response effect on survival in the moderate dose range in patients treated palliatively for locally advanced NSCLC.