Between January 1982 and June 1993, a total of 61 patients with post-surgical loco-regional recurrence only were treated with external beam radiation therapy only at our institution. Patients were treated with either curative intent [tumor dose (TD) 55-60 Gy in 26-30 fractions] or palliative intent (TD 30 Gy in ten fractions). Median survival time (MST) for all 61 patients is 13 months, and 1-5-year survival rates are 61, 28, 16, 9.8 and 9.8%, respectively. There was a significant difference between high-dose and low-dose RT groups regarding both MST (18 vs. 7 months, respectively) and 1-5-year survival rates (74, 36, 24, 14 and 14% vs. 32, 11, 0, 0 and 0%, respectively) (P = 0.0000). Age, extent of initial surgery, time from initial surgery to documented recurrence were not found to influence survival in the high-dose group and influence of performance status, weight loss and histology were only marginally insignificant. Females did better than males and patients with bronchial stump recurrence only did better than those with non-stump recurrence only. Initial and recurrent staging significantly influenced survival, with patients in early stages doing better than those in advanced stages. External beam RT is an effective tool in the treatment of loco-regional recurrent NSCLC after curative resection. Identification of a favorable subset of patients that may fare better may help optimize treatment in the future by using high-dose, curative RT. Otherwise, unfavorable patients may appropriately be treated with palliative RT.