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Aim. To analyze factors influencing expected survival of pulmonary cancer (PC) patients given radiotherapy, i.e. age of the patient, stage of the disease, size of the tumor, involvement of the lymph nodes, a total focal dose, space distribution of the dose. Material and methods. Among PC patients 87% were males and 73.9% were 60 years of age and older. Local PC (stage Ilia and IUb) was diagnosed in 65.2%. Non-small-cell PC was in 83.8%. Effects of radiotherapy on the survival was analysed in 115 patients. Total focal doses made up 30 Gy (3.0 Gy/10fractions) to 70 Gy (2.0 Gy/35fractions). Results. Longer survival was achieved after irradiation with greater dose and modern three-dimentional planning ofconformic radiotherapy. A significant prolongation of the survival was seen in raising the total focal dose to 50 Gy. There is a correlation between the dose and conformity of the dose distribution. During the study 58.2% patients died. Conclusion. Assessment of the survival of PC patients given radiotherapy has shown that negative prognostic factors are the following: PC stage IIIA, IHB and IV, extensive local spread of the tumor, large primary tumor, involvement of the lymph nodes.