• Title/Summary/Keyword: performance evaluation method

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The Results of Palliative Radiation Therapy in Patients with Unresectable Advanced Pancreatic Cancer (절제 불가능한 췌장암의 고식적 방사선치료 결과)

  • Ryu, Mi-Ryeong;Yoon, Sei-Chul;Kim, Yeon-Sil;Chung, Su-Mi
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.24 no.4
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    • pp.243-247
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    • 2006
  • $\underline{Purpose}$: To evaluate the treatment results and prognostic factors of palliative radiation therapy in the patients with unresectable advanced pancreatic cancer. $\underline{Materials\;&\;Methods$: Thirty-seven evaluable patients with unresectable advanced pancreatic cancer who were treated by palliative radiation therapy for pain relief at the Department of Radiation Oncology, Kangnam St. Mary's hospital, the Catholic University of Korea between March 1984 and February 2005 were analysed retrospectively. There were 22 men and 15 women. Age at diagnosis ranged from 30 to 80 (median 57) years. Twelve patients (32.4%) had liver metastases and 22 patients (59.5%) had lymph node metastases. Radiation therapy was delivered to primary tumor and regional lymph nodes with $1{\sim}2\;cm$ margin, and total dose was $3,240{\sim}5,580\;cGy$ (median 5,040 cGy). Chemotherapy with radiotherapy was delivered in 30 patients (81%) with 5-FU alone (21 patients) or gemcitabine (9 patients). The follow-up period ranged from 1 to 44 months. Survival and prognostic factors were analysed using Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test respectively. $\underline{Results}$: Overall mean and median survival were 11 and 8 months and 1-year survival rate was 20%. Among 33 patients who were amenable for response evaluation, 7 patients had good response and 22 patients had fair response with overall response rate of 87.9%. Mild to moderate toxicity were observed in 14 patients with nausea, vomiting, and indigestion, but severe toxicity requiring interruption of treatment were not observed. Chemotherapy didn't influence the survival and symptomatic palliation, but the group containing gemcitabine showed a tendency of longer survival (median 12 months) than 5-FU alone group (median 5.5 months) without statistical significance (p>0.05). The significant prognostic factors were Karnofsky performance status and liver metastasis (p<0.05). Age, sex, tumor location, lymph node metastasis, and CA 19-9 level did not show any prognostic significance (p>0.05). $\underline{Conclusion}$: Radiation therapy was effective for symptomatic palliation in the patients with unresectable advanced pancreatic cancer and would play an important part in the survival benefit with gemcitabine or other targeted agents.

Training Needs Analysis for the Roles and Competency of Field Representatives in Electric Work (전기공사 현장대리인의 역할 및 역량에 대한 교육요구분석)

  • Yun, Hyeon Woo;Yoon, Gwan Sik
    • 대한공업교육학회지
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    • v.40 no.1
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    • pp.142-162
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    • 2015
  • The purpose of this study are to provide the basic data materials and implementations for successful performance of electric-work field representatives of South Korean firms by identifying their roles and competency and examining their educational need. For this research purposes, three phased analysis was followed on: (1) the roles of electric-work field representatives, (2) competency of electric-work field representatives and (3) educational need for their competency. This research method was to conduct a focus group interview for 10 expert field representatives along with survey. The collected data materials were processed by MS Excel and SPSS 21.0 for statistical analysis including average, standard deviation and other basic statistics; the gap in awareness of field representatives; and need values. For the needs analysis, the difference between significance of field representatives' competency and current status was examined by t test. And the awareness gap between competency importance and current status was identified based on the Borich equation. The Locus for Focus model was employed herein to identify the kinds of competency with high importance and high inconsistency to prioritize. As a result, this research has found as follows: first, the roles of field representatives were found to be in 13 different kinds of roles. Second, electric-work field representatives were found to need to have 16 different skills. Third, regarding the 16 abilities, the gap between current status and significance was analyzed herein. The results showed statistically significant differences in all cases. The Borich needs analysis found the first required ability was communication ability followed by power of execution, conflict management ability, analytical thinking and time management ability. Also, the results of Locus for Focus model analysis displayed that the first quadrant(HH) included 7 highly-demanded abilities of communication ability, analytical thinking, decision making ability, specialty, time management ability, power of execution and drive for work implementation. The top-priority group was found to have 5 items of communication ability, analytical thinking, time management ability, power of execution and drive for work implementation which were commonly seen in the Locus for Focus model outcomes. Based on these findings, this research could identify the roles and competency of electric-work field representatives and provide the basic data materials applicable to future personal management of electricity companies including recruitment, division of work, job description, evaluation, etc. Also this research offered guidelines on demanded abilities in the field and where to place priority. The kinds of abilities with high educational demand as found in this research must be considered in designing educational programs for the competency building of field representatives. This research is expected to provide useful information in developing such educational programs for field representatives.

A Study on the Solubilizing and Emulsifying Action of Tocopheryl Acetate using Plant Surfactant (식물성계면활성제를 사용한 토코페릴아세테이트의 가용화와 유화력에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, In-Young;Bae, Bo-Hyeon
    • Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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    • v.37 no.4
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    • pp.893-905
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    • 2020
  • This study is a study on solubilization and emulsifying power of tocopheryl acetate using vegetable surfactants. High purity polyglyceryl-10 isostearate and polyglyceryl-10 oleate were mixed to synthesize a vegetable surfactant with excellent solubilizing power and emulsifying power. The mixed raw material was named Solubil EWG-1100. The appearance of this raw material was a pale yellowish paste with a specific smell, specific gravity of 1.12, and acid value of 0.085. The HLB value of this surfactant was calculated by the Griffin's equation with an average value of 15.17. The behavior of this surfactant to solubilize tocopheryl acetate was mechanically verified. The performance of solubilization was evaluated by a method of visual evaluation and was measured by a transmittance rate at 650 nm using a UV spectrophotometer. As a result, in the formulation using 3% ethanol as a co-solvent, the concentration of surfactant was required to solubilize tocopheryl acetate was required about 5 times of natural surfactant. In the formulation without ethanol as a co-solvent, the concentration of surfactant was required to solubilize tocopheryl acetate required about 7 times of natural surfactant. In addition, the concentration of surfactant required to make an emulsifivation 10 % of tocopheryl acetate was 1 wt% of Solubil EWG-1100, and the emulsified particle size was 3.5 mm in cream formula. In order to obtain stable and fine emulsified particles, it was found that as the concentration of tocopheryl acetate increased, the concentration of Solubil EWG-1100 also was to increase. As a result of testing the solubilizing power of the surfactant according to the pH various change, it showed stable solubilizing power in the acidic region of pH=3.2, the neutral region of pH=7.0, and the alkaline region of pH=11.8. As application, based on these results, it is expected that it can be widely applied to the cosmetics field that develops skin care prescriptions, sensitive skin products, and heavy dry skin products.

Evaluation of Local Damages and Residual Performance of Blast Damaged RC Beams Strengthened with Steel Fiber and FRP Sheet (폭발 손상을 입은 강섬유 및 FRP 시트 보강 철근콘크리트 보의 국부손상 및 잔류성능 평가)

  • Lee, Jin-Young;Jang, Dae-Sung;Kwon, Ki-Yeon;Yoon, Young-Soo
    • Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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    • v.26 no.5
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    • pp.627-634
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    • 2014
  • In this study, standoff detonation tests and static beam tests on $160{\times}290{\times}2200mm$ RC beams were conducted to investigate the effect of local damage on the flexural strength and ductility index. And also, blast resistance of RC beams strengthened with steel fiber and FRP sheet were evaluated by these tests. The standoff detonation tests were performed with charge weight of 1kg and standoff distance of 0.1m. After the tests, crater diameters and loss weights of specimens were measured to evaluate the local damage of specimens. Flexural strength and ductility index were measured by conducting the static beam tests on the damaged and undamaged specimens. As a test results, normal concrete specimen(NC) showed relatively large crater and spall diameters that caused weight loss of 23.5kg as a local damage. Whereas, steel fiber reinforced concrete specimen(SFRC) and FRP sheet retrofitted specimens(NC-F, NC-FS) showed higher blast resistance than NC by reducing crater size and weight loss. Flexural strength and ductility index were decreased in case of local damaged specimens by detonation. Especially, large decrease of flexural strength was shown in NC as compared with intact specimen and brittle failure was occurred due to buckling of compressive reinforcement. In case of specimens strengthened with steel fiber and FRP sheet, residual flexural strength and ductility index were increased as compared with NC. In these results, it is concluded that critical local damage can be occurred unless enough standoff distance can be assured even if the charge weight is small. and it is verified that strengthening method using steel fiber and FRP sheet can increase blast resistance.

Evaluation of the Clinical Usefulness of the Xeniss Rapid TB kit for the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis (결핵진단에서 Xeniss Rapid TB kit의 임상적 유용성)

  • Park, Seung-Kyu;Lee, Woo-Chul;Hwang, Soo-Hee;Kwon, Eun-Si;Lee, Hung-Soon;Lee, Duk-Hyoung
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.53 no.4
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    • pp.389-400
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    • 2002
  • Background : The rapid diagnostic tests for tuberculosis are needed to facilitate early treatment of tuberculosis and prevention of Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission. The Xeniss Rapid TB kit is a rapid, card-based immunochromatographic test for the detection of antibodies directed against M. tuberculosis antigens including antigen 5(38-kDa antigen). The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the Xeniss Rapid TB kit for the diagnosis of active tuberculosis with serums from patients, asymptomatic healthy and close contact controls. Methods : 188 patients with active tuberculosis were tested; 177 with pulmonary tuberculosis(18 with combined pleurisy), and 11 with extrapulmonary tuberculosis. The control groups were composed of 82 close contacts and 57 healthy adults. Study subject were drawn from one national tuberculosis hospital for patients and close contacts, and another private hospital for healthy adults in Masan city, Korea. The Xeniss Rapid TB kit(Xeniss Life Science Co., Ltd., Seoul, Korea) was evaluated by using serum samples according to the instructions of the manufacturer by an investigator masked to the clinical and microbiological status of the study subjects. Results : The diagnostic sensitivity of the Xeniss Rapid TB kit was 73.9% in patients and specificities were 73.2% and 93.0% in close contact and healthy adults respectively. The positive predictive value in patients was 84.2% and the negative predictive value in controls was 85.8%. Conclusion : This study shows that the Xeniss Rapid TB test is a simple and fast method to diagnose active TB. The results of the sensitivity and specificites suggest that serodiagnosis using this point of care testing(POCT) device would be valuable and advantageous for screening tuberculosis in the clinical field.

Preliminary Study on the MR Temperature Mapping using Center Array-Sequencing Phase Unwrapping Algorithm (Center Array-Sequencing 위상펼침 기법의 MR 온도영상 적용에 관한 기초연구)

  • Tan, Kee Chin;Kim, Tae-Hyung;Chun, Song-I;Han, Yong-Hee;Choi, Ki-Seung;Lee, Kwang-Sig;Jun, Jae-Ryang;Eun, Choong-Ki;Mun, Chi-Woong
    • Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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    • v.12 no.2
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    • pp.131-141
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    • 2008
  • Purpose : To investigate the feasibility and accuracy of Proton Resonance Frequency (PRF) shift based magnetic resonance (MR) temperature mapping utilizing the self-developed center array-sequencing phase unwrapping (PU) method for non-invasive temperature monitoring. Materials and Methods : The computer simulation was done on the PU algorithm for performance evaluation before further application to MR thermometry. The MR experiments were conducted in two approaches namely PU experiment, and temperature mapping experiment based on the PU technique with all the image postprocessing implemented in MATLAB. A 1.5T MR scanner employing a knee coil with $T2^*$ GRE (Gradient Recalled Echo) pulse sequence were used throughout the experiments. Various subjects such as water phantom, orange, and agarose gel phantom were used for the assessment of the self-developed PU algorithm. The MR temperature mapping experiment was initially attempted on the agarose gel phantom only with the application of a custom-made thermoregulating water pump as the heating source. Heat was generated to the phantom via hot water circulation whilst temperature variation was observed with T-type thermocouple. The PU program was implemented on the reconstructed wrapped phase images prior to map the temperature distribution of subjects. As the temperature change is directly proportional to the phase difference map, the absolute temperature could be estimated from the summation of the computed temperature difference with the measured ambient temperature of subjects. Results : The PU technique successfully recovered and removed the phase wrapping artifacts on MR phase images with various subjects by producing a smooth and continuous phase map thus producing a more reliable temperature map. Conclusion : This work presented a rapid, and robust self-developed center array-sequencing PU algorithm feasible for the application of MR temperature mapping according to the PRF phase shift property.

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Evaluation on Reproducibility of Low-Dose Kidney Scan in Dynamic Kidney Scan (동적신장검사에서 저선량을 사용한 신장검사의 재현성 평가)

  • Lee, Jaesang;Lee, Kyuchan;Lee, Seunghwan;Bae, Seongbok;Park, Jongyeop
    • The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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    • v.20 no.1
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    • pp.59-65
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    • 2016
  • Purpose Dynamic kidney scan is a typical imaging technique that visualizes kidney function. Reproducibility of dynamic kidney scans has been evaluated by comparing low-dose kidney scans with low-dose radiopharmaceutical and standard dynamic kidney scan. With this comparative study, if reproducibility is superb, the dynamic kidney scan method with reduced radioactivity to patients is to be utilized and radiation exposure to patient is to be reduced. Materials and Methods For gamma camera, Orbiter, SymbiaE (Siemens, Germany) was used. Among patients who had used 370 Mbq (10 mCi) from January of 2013 to February 2014 and other patients who had used 185 Mbq (5 mCi) from March of 2014 to July of 2015 with identical condition, 21 subjects using DTPA and 20 subjects using $MAG_3$, 41 subjects in total, had been selected as subjects for data. From renogram of the result image, frame of the peak point was selected. Then, region of interest of kidney and background had been selected and Kidney to Background Ratio has been calculated for comparison. Results In tests using DTPA, kidney to background ratio when using 370 Mbq was $5.67{\pm}0.8$ at average while it was $5.62{\pm}0.87$ when using 185 Mbq, which didn't show much difference. Also in the tests using $MAG_3$, kidney to background ratio when using 370 Mbq was $14.95{\pm}2.58$ at average and $14.56{\pm}2.02$ in 185 Mbq, which neither showed much difference. In paired sample t-test, p-value was 0.566 in DTPA and 0.363 in $MAG_3$, which confirmed that there was no difference between the groups. Conclusion In identical patients, when dose was decreased from 370 Mbq to 185 Mbq, reproducibility of dynamic kidney scan was proven to be excellent. Low-dose Dynamic kidney scan can achieve results with fine reproducibility without improvement in performance of gamma camera and is expected to reduce radiation exposure to patient.

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Development of the Multi-Parametric Mapping Software Based on Functional Maps to Determine the Clinical Target Volumes (임상표적체적 결정을 위한 기능 영상 기반 생물학적 인자 맵핑 소프트웨어 개발)

  • Park, Ji-Yeon;Jung, Won-Gyun;Lee, Jeong-Woo;Lee, Kyoung-Nam;Ahn, Kook-Jin;Hong, Se-Mie;Juh, Ra-Hyeong;Choe, Bo-Young;Suh, Tae-Suk
    • Progress in Medical Physics
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    • v.21 no.2
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    • pp.153-164
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    • 2010
  • To determine the clinical target volumes considering vascularity and cellularity of tumors, the software was developed for mapping of the analyzed biological clinical target volumes on anatomical images using regional cerebral blood volume (rCBV) maps and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps. The program provides the functions for integrated registrations using mutual information, affine transform and non-rigid registration. The registration accuracy is evaluated by the calculation of the overlapped ratio of segmented bone regions and average distance difference of contours between reference and registered images. The performance of the developed software was tested using multimodal images of a patient who has the residual tumor of high grade gliomas. Registration accuracy of about 74% and average 2.3 mm distance difference were calculated by the evaluation method of bone segmentation and contour extraction. The registration accuracy can be improved as higher as 4% by the manual adjustment functions. Advanced MR images are analyzed using color maps for rCBV maps and quantitative calculation based on region of interest (ROI) for ADC maps. Then, multi-parameters on the same voxels are plotted on plane and constitute the multi-functional parametric maps of which x and y axis representing rCBV and ADC values. According to the distributions of functional parameters, tumor regions showing the higher vascularity and cellularity are categorized according to the criteria corresponding malignant gliomas. Determined volumes reflecting pathological and physiological characteristics of tumors are marked on anatomical images. By applying the multi-functional images, errors arising from using one type of image would be reduced and local regions representing higher probability as tumor cells would be determined for radiation treatment plan. Biological tumor characteristics can be expressed using image registration and multi-functional parametric maps in the developed software. The software can be considered to delineate clinical target volumes using advanced MR images with anatomical images.

Concurrent Chemoradiation for Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer (절제 불가능한 췌장암의 동시항암화학방사선요법)

  • Kim, Yong-Bae;Seong, Jin-Sil;Song, Si-Young;Park, Seung-Woo;Suh, Chang-Ok
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.20 no.4
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    • pp.328-333
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    • 2002
  • Purpose : To analyze the treatment results of concurrent chemoradiation with oral 5-FU plus Gemcitabine or Paclitaxel for unresectable pancreatic cancer. Materials & Methods : The patients, who were diagnosed by imaging modalities or by explo-laparotomy, were treated with concurrent chemoradiation. Radiotherapy was delivered to primary tumor and regional lymph nodes, and the total dose was 45 Gy. Patients received Gemcitabine $1,000\;mg/m^2$ or Paclitaxel $50\;mg/m^2$ weekly and oral 5-FU daily The total number of cycles of chemotherapy ranged from 1 to 39 (median, 11 cycles). The follow-up period ranged from 6 to 36 months, Survival was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results : Fifty-four patients between Jan. 1999 to Nov. 2001 were included in this study. Forty-two patients who completed the planned treatment were included in this analysis. The patients' age ranged from 37 to 73 years (median, 50 years) and the male to female ratio was 30:12. Treatment was interrupted for 12 patients due to: disease progression for 6 $(50\%)$, poor performance status for 4 $(33.3\%)$, intercurrent disease for 1 $(8.3\%)$, and refusal for 1 $(8.3\%)$. Response evaluation was possible for 40 patients. One patient gained complete remission and 24 patients gained partial remission, hence the response rate was $59\%$. The survival rates were $46.7\%\;and\;17.0\%$ at 1 year and 2 years, respectively with a median survival time of 12 months. Patients treated with Paclitaxel showed superior outcomes compared to those patients treated with Gemcitabine, in terms of both response rate and survival rate although this difference was not statistically significant. Grade III or IV hematologic toxicity was shown in 8 patients $(19\%)$, while grade III or IV non-hematologic toxicity was shown in 5 patients $(12\%)$. Conclusion : Concurrent chemoradiation with oral 5-FU and Gemcitabine or Paclitaxel improves both the response rate and survival rate in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer. A prospective study should be investigated in order to improve both the patient selection and the treatment outcome as well as to reduce the toxicity.

The Evaluation of Radiation Therapy and Combined-modality Therapy for Non-small-cell Lung Cancer in Elderly (고령의 비소세포성폐암 환자의 방사선 및 병용치료에 대한 효과 평가)

  • Yoon, Won-Sup;Yang, Dae-Sik;Kim, Chul-Yong
    • Radiation Oncology Journal
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    • v.25 no.2
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    • pp.101-108
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    • 2007
  • [ $\underline{Purpose}$ ]: To compare radiation therapy alone to combined modality therapy about survival rate and tolerance of elderly patients ($70=or{\geq}$) with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). $\underline{Materials\;and\;Methods}$: Between 1998 and 2002, 57 patients given radiation therapy due to NSCLC (Stage III) were analysed retrospectively. Radiation therapy alone (RT), concurrent chemoradiation (CRT), and sequential chemoradiation (SCRT) was done to 33, 16 and 8 patients, respectively. Patients' median age was 74 (range $70{\sim}85$). Male and female are 51 patients and 6 patients, respectively. 23 patients were stage IIIa and 34 were stage IIIb. Patients' characteristic distribution of RT and CRT was not significantly different except mass size that RT has a bigger than CRT. The fraction size of radiation therapy was 1.8 Gy in CRT and $1.8{\sim}3\;Gy$ in other groups. Total radiation dose was $51{\sim}63\;Gy$ according to the fraction size. If the prescribed total radiation dose was successfully irradiated, we stated that it was completion of radiation therapy. $\underline{Results}$: 52 patients were dead. Median period of radiation therapy was as follow: RT, 35 days, CRT, 60.5 days and SCRT, 35 days. Overall median survival time (MST) was 10.1 months. The 1 yr- and 2 yr-overall survival rate was 39.8% and 17.6%, respectively. MST of RT, CRT and SCRT was 8.9, 8.2 and 11.7 months, respectively. The 1 yr survival rate of RT, CRT and SCRT was 38.4%, 37.5% and 50% (not significant). Patients given incomplete radiation therapy were 12 (RT, 5 CRT, 6 SCRT, 1). N stage (p=0.081) and the difference of treatment methods (p=0.079) were the factors affecting incompletion of radiation therapy, but it was not significant. In case of combined-agents chemotherapy, 4 of 8 ceased radiation therapy. T stage ($T{\geq}3$), mass size (${\geq}5\;cm$), Karnofsky performance scale (${\leq}70$) and completion of radiation therapy were the prognostic factors in uni- and multi-variate analysis. $\underline{Conclusion}$: In elderly patients with NSCLC, radiation therapy alone was a treatment method with similar survival period compared with other methods. Generally, patients given radiation therapy alone was tolerable to a treatment. Before planning concurrent chemoirradiation in elderly patients with NSCLC, physicians pay attention to a selection of patients and chemotherapy agents considering general condition and toxicity.