This is a five-year survival case report on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with western medicine and traditional Korean medicine. 44-year old man diagnosed NSCLC IIIB in 2015 went through two months’ concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) first, however the cancer did not response. After CCRT he began to take intensive integrative therapy including acupuncture, abdominal moxibustion, wild ginseng pharmacopuncture, herbal medicinal product of ginseng, hyperthermia, Thymosin α1, and mega vitamin C injection for 4 years and 9 months. After three months of intensive treatment, the state of cancer changed first to partial response and then complete response. He finally succeeded in five-year survival without any recurrence or complication in 2020, We suggest that integrative approach including traditional Korean medicine can be a meaningful treatment option for nonoperable NSCLC. Further studies with more cases should be performed to establish proper treatment protocol of integrative medicine for lung cancer.

Keywords: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer; Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy; Traditional Korean Medicine; Integrative Medicine

Fig. 1

Change of Chest CT

1-1) first diagnosis(2015.09.01) - Lymph Node(LN) Enlargement(long→subcarinal, short→left interlobar)

1-2) stable disease(2015.10.24), 1-3) partial response(2015.12.14) – decreased size of LN

1-4) complete response(2016.03.15) – nomal size of LN. 1-5) no change(2016.07.19), 1-6) 5 year survival(2020.08.25)

Fig. 2

Change of PET/CT

2-1) first diagnosis(2015.09.09)- abnormal hyper metabolic lesion

2-2) partial response(2015.12.18)-marked decrease of hypermetabolism

Table 1

Western Medicine Treatment and Results between 2015-09-21 and 2015-12-07

Table 2

Integrative Treatment and Results between 2015-12-08 and 2020-08-31

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