In those countries, even some inoperable cancers discovered very late are tackled aggressively through a combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, to reduce the size of the tumor until surgical removal becomes possible. This raises the survival rate.
對於局部晚期發現時已不能開刀的肺癌病人，國外並不放棄，他們仍積極採用化療、放療並行的方式治療，直到腫瘤縮小到可以開刀時再動手術，因而存活率較高。