Do radiosensitizers enhance the treatment of patients with NSCLC? The need for better models and alternative methods of treatment.

Radiotherapy as a treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) can potentially be optimized by the use of radiosensitizers, substances that enhance the effect of radiation on tumor tissue without an equal increase in the effect on normal tissue. Radiosensitizers may act by increasing the level of lethal damage caused by radiation or by causing a decrease in the repair of such lethal damage. While cell and animal models have been used in an attempt to establish the efficacy of radiosensitizers, trials in man have so far been inconclusive. The need to improve existing models and methods for combining modalities to best effect is clear. Radiotherapy/chemotherapy combinations are a logical alternative to radiosensitizers for managing NSCLC, and despite variability in the extent of local and metastatic control, evidence for improved survival exists.