Predictive markers in the adjuvant therapy of non-small cell lung cancer

Adjuvant chemotherapy increases the 5-year survival rate of patients with completely resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by absolute 5%. Molecular-targeted therapies and predictive biomarkers to select those patients who benefit hold promise to further improve the outcome. Several biomarkers including ERCC1, BRCA1, EGFR, or gene signatures have been characterized in retrospective analyses of adjuvant therapy trials. However, differences in trial design and laboratory tests might have affected the outcome and might explain discordant results. With regard to many biomarkers, laboratory tests for their assessment remain to be standardized. After standardization of these tests and further validation studies, biomarkers might allow individualizing adjuvant treatment in patients with completely resected NSCLC in the future.