Dr. Mason on Progress Made in Resectable Stage III Lung Cancer

David P. Mason, MD, chief of thoracic surgery and lung transplantation, Baylor Scott & White Health System, chief of lung transplantation, head of the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Baylor University Medical Center, discusses the progress that has been made in resectable stage III lung cancer.

Over the past few decades, not much has changed in the treatment of patients with resectable stage III lung cancer from both a surgical and medical perspective, says Mason. However, over the last few years, there has been a lot of progress made in unresectable stage III lung cancer. In that space, there are several therapies on the horizon that have the potential to change things for the better, he adds.

For patients with resectable stage III lung cancer, surgery and chemoradiation remain the standard of care. However, there are associated adverse events (AEs) to be aware of. Patients may experience all of the secondary AEs of chemotherapy, including nausea, vomiting, drop in blood counts, susceptibility to infection, and admission to the hospitals, says Mason. With radiation, patients may experience esophagitis, discomfort, and lung injury; those are all downsides of chemoradiation. When surgery is added on top of that, it can be a particularly challenging regimen for patients, concludes Mason.