Patterns of failure in patients who had response-assessment by PET after radical radiotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer support the case for more intensive local therapy

Abstract

Purpose/Objective: We previously reported that treatment response measured by F-18 FDG PET was more powerfully correlated with survival after radical radiotherapy(RT)/chemoRT for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) than the known prognostic factors of stage, performance status and CT response (p<0.0001). Superior freedom from metastasis was apparent after complete response (CR). With longer follow-up, we present data correlating PET response with survival and both local and distant disease progression.