"I was delighted to take part in a clinical trial as it has the potential to really help others in the future.”
A trial looking at surgery or radiotherapy after chemotherapy for non small cell lung cancer (EORTC 08941)
Cancer type:
Lung cancer
Non small cell lung cancer
Status:
Results
Phase:
Phase 3
This trial compared radiotherapy with surgery after chemotherapy for people with stage 3A non small cell lung cancer.
Doctors usually treat stage 3A non small cell lung cancer with surgery or radiotherapy, and sometimes chemotherapy. When this trial was done, doctors wanted to see if surgery after chemotherapy worked better than radiotherapy after chemotherapy for this group of patients.
The aim of the trial was to compare radiotherapy with surgery after chemotherapy.
Summary of results
The researchers found that surgery after chemotherapy was not better than radiotherapy after chemotherapy for people with non small cell lung cancer.
This trial recruited 582 people with stage 3A non small cell lung cancer. Everybody had up to 3 cycles of treatment with a ‘platinum’ chemotherapy drug such as carboplatin or cisplatin.
The chemotherapy worked in around 6 out of 10 people (61%). This group of patients were then divided into 2 treatment groups
- Half had radiotherapy
- Half had surgery
The trial team analysed the results in 2005. After an average follow up of 6 years, they looked at both groups to see how long people lived and how many had cancer that had continued to grow. They found no difference between the people who had surgery and the people who had radiotherapy.
We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (
) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.
Recruitment start:
Recruitment end:
How to join a clinical trial
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Please note - unless we state otherwise in the summary, you need to talk to your doctor about joining a trial.
Chief Investigator
Dr J van Meerbeeck
Supported by
European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)
Freephone 0808 800 4040
Last review date
CRUK internal database number:
Oracle 139
Please note - unless we state otherwise in the summary, you need to talk to your doctor about joining a trial.
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