OBJECTIVETo investigate the association between survival and postoperative three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) in patients with resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

METHODSEighty-four patients were treated with surgery and postoperative 3DCRT for NSCLC. Sixty-five (77.4%) patients received lobectomy, and 19 (22.6%) received pneumonectomy. Fifty-four (64.3%) patients achieved R0 resection and 30 cases (35.8%) received R1/R2 resection. Fifty-two patients were of stage IIIA and 24 patients were of stage IIIB. Photon energy of 6 MV was used for all the patients. The median 3DCRT dose was 60 Gy (40 - 70 Gy) with a fraction size of 2 Gy. Thirty-seven patients received median 3 cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy. The median follow-up was 35.5 months for survivors.

RESULTSThe overall 3-year survival rate was 58.6%, and the 4-year overall survival rate was 43.9%. Of the 43 patients who had treatment failure, only 8 (9.9%) patients showed intrathoracic recurrence, but 38 (46.9%) patients had distant metastasis. The univariate analysis for all patients showed that sex, age, weight loss, tumor size, pathology and stage were not correlated with prognosis. R1/R2 resection was associated with a significantly worse survival. Toxicities were acceptable, with 9 (11.1%) patients appeared higher than NCI CTC grade 2 radiation pneumonitis.

CONCLUSIONIn a population-based cohort, postoperative 3DCRT for NSCLC provides a good prognosis, and the radiation-related pneumonitis is acceptable.