Within-field irradiation for bronchogenic carcinoma

Sixty patients with stage II and III non-small cell lung cancer were randomized between within-field [concomitant boost] and conventional fractionation radiotherapy. The total tumor dose in both groups was 66 Gy. There were 12 complete responders in the first group and only 4 in the second group. Total objective response was 86.7% with within-field versus 73.3% with conventional treatment. The direct overall survival at 18 months was 33.3% in the first group versus 20% in the second group. All patients tolerated their treatment well with minimal variation in the incidence and severity of treatment morbidity between both groups