Surgery remains the reference treatment for primary non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) T1-T2 N0. However, 20-30 % of patients present a surgical contraindication. For these patients who cannot be operated on, stereotactic radiotherapy (SBRT) has been validated as the alternative of choice by learned medical societies. These two treatments are aimed at different populations, with a recognized role for these tumours local control. Radiotherapy remains less risky for fragile patients, but maybe at the cost of a higher risk of lymph node recurrence. The role of systemic treatment in association with stereotactic radiotherapy remains to be determined, particularly for non-operable T3NO tumours.
Several complex clinical situations can be identified depending on the location and size of the tumour, the patient’s history of irradiation and co-morbidities. The treatment of central tumours, re-irradiation, which is becoming increasingly frequent with advances in systemic treatments, and treatment of patients with pulmonary fibrosis represent a real technical challenge, requiring a specialized multi-disciplinary assessment to evaluate the benefit-risk ratio.