BOF: 32
A 65-year-old male presents with a chronic cough. He is
a heavy smoker of over 40 cigarettes a day. CXR shows a peripheral right-sided
lesion, which on CT guided lung biopsy, is shown to be squamous carcinoma. No
regional lymph nodes are involved. Lung function tests show a FEV1 of
less than 1.5 litres.
The treatment most likely to benefit this patient would
be:
a)
Surgery
b)
Chemotherapy
c)
High dose radiotherapy
d)
Combination chemotherapy and radiotherapy
e)
Combination chemotherapy and surgery
Answer:
c)
A FEV1 of less than 1.5 litres is not
compatible with an active life following surgery. High dose radiotherapy can
produce good results and is the treatment of choice in patients with poor lung
function.
