Biomarkers and targeted systemic therapies in advanced non-small cell lung cancer

The last decade has witnessed significant growth in therapeutic options for patients diagnosed with lung cancer. This is due in major part to our improved technological ability to interrogate the genomics of cancer cells, which has enabled the development of biologically rational anticancer agents. The recognition that lung cancer is not a single disease entity dates back many decades to the histological subclassification of malignant neoplasms of the lung into subcategories of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). While SCLC continues to be regarded as a single histologic and therapeutic category, the NSCLC subset has undergone additional subcategorizations with distinct management algorithms for specific histologic and molecular subtypes. The defining characteristics of these NSCLC subtypes have evolved into important tools for prognosis and for predicting the likelihood of benefit when patients are treated with anticancer agents.