Successfully resected stage IIIA non-small cell lung cancer with mediastinal lymphnode metastasis after chemotherapy of cisplatin and docetaxel combined with concurrent radiation

A 47-year-old man with no symptoms was admitted to our hospital for the treatment of NSCLC, which was incidentally detected by an X-ray examination at the mass screening. Computed tomography (CT) of the chest and FDG-PET revealed a 3.6 cm tumor in the right upper lobe with multiple lymphadenopathy in the right mediastinum. Based on these clinical findings, we classified this case as a T2N2M0, stage IIIA NSCLC. The patient consented to and received 2 courses of systemic chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin (CDDP 40 mg/m(2); day 1, 8) and docetaxel (DOC 40 mg/m(2); day 1, 8) combined with concurrent radiation (2 Gy/day; total 46 Gy) with no severe adverse events. His tumors responded well to the treatment, and restaging chest CT showed marked regression of mediastinal lymphadenopathy, and partial response to the lung tumor. Then, acurative surgical resection was performed. Finally, the case was diagnosed as a T1N1M0, stage IIA NSCLC pathologically. Our chemotherapy regimen consisting of CDDP and DOC combined with concurrent radiation might be as potent as neo-adjuvant therapy for clinical stage III NSCLC.