Chemotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer

The role of chemotherapy in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer has increased greatly over the past few years. One of the main reasons for the increased acceptance of chemotherapy has been the development of new agents with unique mechanisms of action and high single-agent activity, combined with favorable toxicity. Cytotoxic drugs currently are not only used as single agents or in combination for first- and second-line therapy to achieve palliation in locally advanced and metastatic disease, but also have been incorporated into multimodality treatment strategies for early stage non-small cell lung cancer. This report, however, focuses on the use of chemotherapy in advanced disease. Semin Oncol 28 (suppl 7):1-6.