Lung cancer

 

prognosis in nsclc

The prognosis in NSCLC is dependent on the stage of the tumour and the completeness of surgical resection. When tumour is completely excised the five year survival of Stages I and II are 80% and 40% respectively. For some subgroups of Stage IIIa NSCLC which are resected the survival can approach 20% but for most the survival is in the region of 8%. When, either due to stage IIIb disease or for medical reasons, surgery is not possible but radical radiotherapy can be delivered, long-term survival can be achieved in 15% of patients. This can be increased by giving adjuvant chemotherapy. For patients with metastatic disease the median survival is 6-9 months and is rarely influenced by therapy.