Sequencing postoperative radiotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer: unanswered questions on the not evidence-based approach.

This editorial comments on the study by Lee et al. which reported on the use of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) as first strategy after resection of stage IIIA-pN2 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). After completion of PORT, 41% of patients received postoperative chemotherapy (POCT). The five-year overall survival (OS) was significantly higher in patients treated with PORT and POCT than in patients treated with PORT alone. Authors concluded that PORT used as first postoperative strategy does not compromise a benefit of POCT and its implementation should be further studied. We discuss the pros and cons of using PORT before POCT for stage IIIA-pN2 NSCLC. Some radiobiological data support earlier use of PORT, however, caution should be paid to not to unnecessarily delay or omit POCT because of its demonstrated survival benefit. Concurrent postoperative radio-chemotherapy could be an attractive approach, but we still have very limited clinical data on its use in this indication.