Unmet needs in the management of unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer: a review after the ‘radio talk’ webinars

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a variable entity, encompassing bulky primary tumors, nodal involvement, or both. Multidisciplinary evaluation is essential to discuss multiple treatment options, to outline optimal management, and to examine the main debated topics and critical issues not addressed by current trials and guidelines that influence daily clinical practice.

Areas covered

From March to 5 May 2021 ,meetings were scheduled in a webinar format titled ‘Radio Talk’ due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the faculty was composed of 6 radiation oncologists from 6 different Institutions of Italy, all of them were the referring radiation oncologist for lung cancer treatment at their respective departments and were or had been members of AIRO (Italian Association of Radiation Oncology) Thoracic Oncology Study Group. The topics covered included: pulmonary toxicity, cardiac toxicity, radiotherapy dose, fractionation and volumes, unfit/elderly patients, multidisciplinary management.

Expert opinion

The debate was focused on the unmet needs triggered by case reports, personal experiences and questions; the answers were often not univocal; however, the exchange of opinion and the contribution of different centers confirmed the role of multidisciplinary management and the necessity that the most critical issues should be investigated in clinical trials.

KEYWORDS:

• Chemo-radiotherapy
• immunotherapy
• lung cancer
• multidisciplinary evaluation
• patient management
• stage III NSCLC

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was supported by a non-conditioning contribution from AstraZeneca.