| Abstract
| - A small number of patients with lung cancer will have a tumour invadingthe chest wall. Pre-operative radiotherapy and surgical resection providethe best results in patients with Pancoast's tumours, although chest wallinvasion is often considered to indicate incurability. We reviewed theoutcome in 46 patients with bronchogenic carcinoma and non- apical chestwall invasion and have tried to clarify the role of adjuvant pre-operativeradiotherapy. All patients underwent combined chest wall and lung resectionfor treatment of lung cancer which had extended grossly and microscopicallyinto the chest wall. In this retrospective study, we identified two groupsof patients, those (n = 21) who received and those (n = 25) who did notreceive pre-operative radiotherapy. Curative resection had been possible in80% of the patients. There was one early post-operative death, due topneumonia. The survival in all 46 patients is 32% at 5 years. In the mostfavourable cases, those without nodal involvement and who received pre-operative radiotherapy, the 5-year survival is 56%. In our series, therewas a notable difference in 5-year survival between irradiated andnon-irradiated patients at every stage of disease.
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