HISTOPATHOLOGICAL GRADING OF RESPONSE TO INDUCTION CHEMOTHERAPY IN NONSMALL CELL LUNG-CANCER - A PRELIMINARY-STUDY

Management of locally advanced NSCLC is controversial. Induction chemo therapy followed by surgery has become an accepted approach for Stage III disease. However, the clinical assessment of the efficacy of preop erative treatment is inaccurate. We propose a four-grade histopatholog ical evaluation of the response to chemotherapy based on the analysis of 20 evaluable cases and compared with clinical outcome. Follow-up ra nged from 12 to 68 months. Correlation between different grading of ne crosis and survival is statistically significant. Based on these preli minary results, we suggest that grading of response is a valid paramet er to evaluate standard regimens and novel drug associations in larger trials.