Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Feb 10, 2017; 8(1): 1-20
Published online Feb 10, 2017. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v8.i1.1
Therapeutic management options for stage III non-small cell lung cancer
Stephanie M Yoon, Talha Shaikh, Mark Hallman
Stephanie M Yoon, Talha Shaikh, Mark Hallman, Department of Radiation Oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA 19111, United States
Author contributions: The research was conceptualized, performed, and written by Yoon SM, Shaikh T and Hallman M.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors disclose no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Talha Shaikh, MD, Department of Radiation Oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, 333 Cottman Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19111, United States. talha.shaikh@fccc.edu
Telephone: +1-215-7282581 Fax: +1-215-2144038
Received: July 28, 2016
Peer-review started: July 30, 2016
First decision: September 2, 2016
Revised: November 6, 2016
Accepted: December 27, 2016
Article in press: December 28, 2016
Published online: February 10, 2017
Core Tip

Core tip: Locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer consists of a heterogeneous population making management challenging. Multiple strategies are being developed to maximize survival and disease control. The role of surgery is being re-evaluated given new insight into the efficacy chemotherapy and radiation. Multi-modality therapy is playing an increasingly important role for both resectable and unresectable stage III patients. Chemoradiation plays a large role in the management of inoperable or unresectable patients. Third generation chemotherapy and other targeted therapies are being incorporated into chemoradiation. Radiation dose-escalation, alternative fractionation schedules, intensity-modulated radiotherapy, and proton therapy are evaluated to improve outcomes from chemoradiation.