Phase III randomized study of Neo-Adjuvant chemotherapy surgery in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) preliminary results

Adjuvant treatments of non-small cell lung cancer (radiotherapy and chemotherapy) before or after surgery, have been tested in numerous trials, more particularly as regards postoperative chemotherapy. For a long time the results were disappointing, and in randomized studies none of the therapeutic regimens prescribed could improve the patient’s survival. New hopes of advances in this matter were raised by Goldie and Coldman [1] whose mathematical concept recommended a systemic treatment applied as early as possible in cases with localized tumour. The advent of Platinum [2], the results obtained in metastatic tumours by some associations with Platinum and those obtained in localized tumours by chemotherapy-radiotherapy [3] have been promising. Many phase II studies have shown that surgery was feasible after 2 or 3 cycles of chemotherapy [4, 8] even thought 1 of them [9] had observed a high rate of progression after chemotherapy which prevented surgery.