Kim H, Yoo H, Pyo H, et al. - In this retrospective review, researchers investigated how survival in patients (n = 234) with stage I-II non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with definitive radiotherapy alone was influenced by underlying pulmonary diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE), and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). They also included stage I-II NSCLC patients who were non-COPD, non-CPFE, and non-IPF, as controls. Participants were observed for a median duration of 17 (range, 1–92) months. In the control, COPD, CPFE, and IPF groups, the median survival times were estimated to be 32, 49, 17, and 12 months, respectively. The risk of death seen in patients with COPD was similar to that observed in the control group, while an increased risk of death was observed in patients with CPFE and IPF, in a Cox proportional hazards analysis for factors related to overall survival. The possible tolerability of definitive radiotherapy in patients with early-stage NSCLC with COPD was concluded.