Assessment of external respiration function in lung cancer patients

Changes in parameters of external respiration function (ERF) were analyzed for 133 patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer who received combined modality treatment. Postoperative complications were observed in 17 (41,5 ± 6,9 %) patients treated with IORT at a single dose of 15 Gy (Group I), in 16 (37,2 ± 6,0 %) patients who received external beam radiation therapy at a total dose of 40 Gy (Group II) and in 17 (34,7 ± 4,5%) patients of the control group. Radiation-induced reactions and lung tissue damages were observed in 32 (38,1 %) patients. Early and late lung tissue damages occurred in 2 and in 10 patients, respectively. Grade I radiation-induced damages were observed in 25% of cases, grade II in 33,3 % and grade III in 41,7 %. Radiation-induced lung tissue damages of grade I occurred mainly in group I and grade III damages predominated in group II. Risk factors for radiation-induced reactions and lung tissue damages were shown.