New treatment approaches for lung cancer and impact on survival

Lung cancer is an aggressive disease that is the leading cause of death from cancer in both males and females. Non-small cell lung cancer accounts for approximately 75% of all cases of lung cancer, and of these about 75% have locally advanced or disseminated disease. Most patients diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer do not survive more than 2 years. Although chemotherapy has been shown to control symptoms and improve quality of life, there remains no standard, optimal chemotherapy regimen for non-small cell lung cancer. Regardless of regimen and chemotherapy agents administered, clinical trials have demonstrated response rates of 20% to 30%, median survival times between 35 and 40 weeks, and 1-year survival rates of 20% to 25%. Because traditional chemotherapy regimens have not shown substantial promise, new strategies are being explored for the treatment of lung cancer, including overcoming drug resistance, the use of antimetastatic and antiangiogenesis drugs, drugs that target novel molecular markers, signal transduction modulators, gene therapy, and vaccines. There are few but exciting new developments that may signal a more promising future for patients with lung cancer.