Radiation Therapy for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in the Twenty-First Century

Lung cancer is the biggest oncologic problem for global health, as it is the most deadly and prevalent pathology after skin cancer. Two million patients are diagnosed every year, and around 80% of them die due to the disease. Radiotherapy has been practiced for decades to treat these patients, but recently, there has been important advances on this treatment on early stages (I and II), as stereotactic radiation therapy is becoming crucial. There has also been an increase on the importance of this treatment on more advanced stages (III), since intensity-modulated radiation therapy has achieved the reduction of undesirable side effects. The performance of stereotactic radiation at metastasis stages on patients with oligometastasis has accomplished great results. Likewise, hypofractionated treatments on polymetastatic patients have increased their quality of life