The effects of radiotherapy on the survival of patients with unresectable non-small cell lung cancer

Introduction: Lung cancer represents the leading cause of cancer mortality across the worlds. At present, less than 30% of the patients can undergo curative surgery, while the majority of them (65%) are diagnosed with metastatic disease and directed to systemic treatments. In this context there is a subset of patients (25%) with locally advanced stage disease whose outcome might be improved by using combined strategies of treatment including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery. Areas covered: Here we reviewed possible combination strategies aimed to improve the outcome of lung cancer patients, focusing on the role of radiotherapy both in the adjuvant and oligo-metastatic setting and in synergy with immunotherapy, and finally, we afforded the new challenges concerning the advanced RT and precision oncology. We carried out a focused analysis concerning the key clinical management weaknesses as well as the potential that current research holds. Expert commentary: We believe that the most promising clinical trials in this specific patient subset will build their rationale on the results of well-designed translational models aimed to test the combination of cytotoxic drugs, radiobiology, and immune-pharmacology. In this context, remarkable investigational fields are focused on the attempt to combine radiotherapy with chemo-immunological strategies and precision medicine protocols.