The use of simultaneous radiotherapy and 5-flurouracil in patients with inoperable squamous cell lung cancer.

Over a 2-year period, 17 patients with histologically proven squamous cell carcinoma of the bronchus, assessed as inoperable or incurable on surgical or medical grounds, were treated with palliative radiotherapy and a concurrent 120-h infusion of 5-flurouracil, at a dosage of 1 g/day. The treatment was found to be well tolerated with no major toxicity. The degree of palliation and survival obtained was found to be no different to that of a historical matched control group, treated with radiotherapy alone, with median survival in the two groups of 35 weeks and 42 weeks respectively (log rank test P greater than 0.69). We conclude that although a non-toxic treatment regime, no benefit was obtained by the addition of 5-flurouracil to palliative radiotherapy.