Prospective Study of Quality of Life in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Patients Treated With/Without Postoperative Radiotherapy

Prospective Comparison of Quality of Life and Cardiopulmonary Morbidity After Surgery in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Treated With and Without Postoperative Radiotherapy

The patients from 12 centers were included into the study. pN2 patients received PORT, pN1 patients did not. PORT was 3D-planned and consisted in 54-56 Gy in 27-28 fractions. One month after surgery, all patients completed EORTC QLQ C-30 questionnaires and had pulmonary function tests (PFT); cardiopulmonary symptoms were assessed by modified LENT-SOM score. Two years after, all patients free of disease repeated the same examinations. Changes in QLQ, LENT-SOM score and the results of PFT were compared for patients receiving and not PORT.

Inclusion Criteria:

• complete resection by lobectomy, bi-lobectomy or pneumonectomy of NSCLC,
• pN1 or pN2 disease,
• signed informed consent for participation in the study,
• Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) higher than 70%.

Exclusion Criteria:

• presence of distant metastases,
• N2 diagnosed before surgery in imaging and/or mediastinoscopy,
• previous radiotherapy to the chest,
• no or inadequate mediastinal nodal dissection ,
• FEV1 after surgery lower than 1.0 liter,
• any active infectious process (including fistula formation) in the chest