Should adjuvant chemotherapy become standard treatment in all patients with resected non-small-cell lung cancer?

Abstract

Surgery remains the main curative treatment for patients with early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC); however, because many patients probably have undetectable micrometastasis even at diagnosis, adjuvant treatment is usually needed. The results for radiotherapy have mostly been disappointing, and a strong emphasis has, therefore, been placed on chemotherapy as the preferred modality. Adjuvant chemotherapy, and in particular, platinum-based regimens, have been assessed in several studies, but the results have been conflicting. Most trials have included patients with a wide range of disease stages and have shown, at most, only moderate improvements in survival. Thus, although clearly indicated in some patients, whether adjuvant chemotherapy should be used in all patients with resected disease is highly controversial. In this debate, Thierry Le Chevalier and colleagues and Giorgio Scagliotti present opposing arguments for whether this approach should be considered standard.