Can radiation therapy cure lung cancer by itself?

Yes: Radiation needs to be in very high doses, which is called radiosurgery, or stereotactic body radiotherapy (sbrt). Cyberknife sbrt for primary lung cancer has been successful in treating early stage lung cancer.

Surgery Stage I/II: Surgery is the standard of care for early stage lung cancer (either stage i and ii). Not only does surgery remove the entire tumor, but accurately determines the stage by removing the associated lymph nodes, and allows the pathologist to examine them. Although radiation has shown to be effective in patients who can't undergo surgery, there is little long term (> 5 years) data. See: cancer.Gov.

Yes: In small cancers with no spread standard radiation and radiosurgery can cure lung cancer....But the standard of care is surgery. In more advanced cancer radiation can cure but is more effective with chemotherapy. I am referring to nonsmall cell types of lung cancer.

Yes: Modern treatment planning allows for equal control in selected patients in select series; however, formal comparisons have not been made, and most consider surgery the standard.