The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 28, 363-368, Copyright © 1979 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Treatment of inoperable lung carcinoma: a combined modality approach
H Takita, AC Hollinshead, DJ Rizzo, CM Kramer, TY Chen, JN Bhayana and F Edgerton
Twenty-four patients with inoperable lung carcinoma other than of the small
cell type who received cis diamminedichloro platinum (II)-based combination
chemotherapy were further treated with all available treatment modalities:
radiation therapy, lung resection, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. There
were 2 operative deaths, and 2 patients died 6 and 8 months postoperatively
of cardiac causes. Postmortem examination on these 4 patients revealed no
evidence of residual tumor. The remaining 20 patients are alive 7 to 33
months from the onset of chemotherapy and 4 to 27 months following lung
resection. These results, although preliminary, are encouraging, and
further study is in progress.