Background and purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of the pre-treatment haemoglobin level among patients with inoperable non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) treated with definitive radiotherapy with regard to loco-regional tumour control (LC) and overall survival (OS).
Material and methods: Patients (n=526) with previously untreated NSCLC, stages I-IIIb, WHO-performance status of 0-2 were eligible. All patients were treated with definitive external irradiation (60 Gy in 6 weeks).
Results: In the multivariate analysis, the pre-treatment haemoglobin level was an independent prognostic factor for both loco-regional control and the overall survival.
Conclusions: pre-treatment haemoglobin levels are strongly associated with loco-regional tumour control and the overall survival.