Milestones in the use of chemotherapy for the management of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

NSCLC, a tobacco-caused disease which is therefore highly preventable, is responsible for about 30% of all cancer deaths. Improvements in terms of survival have been overall disappointing. A major advance has been the demonstration of the value of platinum-based chemotherapy, not only for advanced disease, but also in the adjuvant and neoadjuvant settings. The favorable impact of second line therapy has been established as well.The most exciting recent development consists in the effective use of biological targeted therapies, namely the EGFR inhibitors. In selected groups of patients, these agents can be used successfully for first line or second line therapy.It is likely that other biologically targeted therapies will be developed in a near future. These progresses will lead hopefully to a more personalized and effective treatment of NSCLC.