Abstract
Sixteen lung cancer patients in stage I, irradiated curatively (higher than 5, 000 rads) were analysed.
Average age was 66.5 years old, which was 8 years older than the patients operated on. Eighty per cent of patients were inoperable owing to their poor conditions or complicating diseases. Details of follow-up study were tabulated and discussed briefly.
Treatment results were as follows. Crude survival rate was 85.6% for 1 year, 60.0% for 2 year, 55.5% for 3 year, 33.3% for 4 year and 11.1% for 5 year respectively. Mean survival time was 27.5±18.4months.
If we compare these results with those of operation in 52 patients at Cancer Center Hospital, survival rates up to 3 years were quite identical, then marked decreases appeared in our series for 4 and 5 years. The reduction in long term survivors might be mainly attributable to the difference of average age in two groups, presumably 8 years.
At the moment, anaplastic cancers should be treated by radiotherapy, both epidermoid carcinomas and adenocarcinomas by surgery, provided the curative operation to be possible.
