“…Retrospective studies have shown surgery followed by postoperative RT has Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13566-015-0226-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. superior 5-year local control (LC) rates, ranging from 40 to 79 % [2,[5][6][7] compared with definitive RT or CRT ranging from 20 to 64 % [2,5,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. However, due to the proximity of SNCs to critical structures such as the brain, optic nerves, orbital contents, and carotid artery, surgery for very locally advanced SNC is often a difficult, if not unattainable, option [3].…”