Fig. 4

Kaplan-Meier plots for optimal cut-off values when combining metabolic tumor volume and UICC stages IIIa-c in patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer receiving chemoradiotherapy. A Median overall survival for stage IIIa was 39 months (95% CI 24–53) for tumor volumes below 45 ml vs. 28 months (95% CI 24–31) for tumor volumes above 45 ml (logrank test p = 0.236). B Median overall survival for stage IIIb was 39 months (95% CI 36–42) for tumor volumes below 48 ml vs. 20 months (95% CI 15–25) for tumor volumes above 48 ml (logrank test p = 0.019). C Median overall survival for stage IIIc was 19 months (95% CI 12–26) for tumor volumes below 105 ml vs. 10 months (95% CI 5–15) for tumor volumes above 105 ml (logrank p = 0.045). Vertical lines indicate censoring