Non-small cell lung cancer: an overview of current management

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) will remain a worldwide health problem for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, local treatment of this disease is disappointing as most patients develop uncontrollable locally advanced or distant metastatic disease. The recent meta-analysis using updated patient data has suggested a potential role for adjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy (CT) in early stage disease, and has shown a significant, albeit modest, improvement in survival when combined with radiotherapy in locally advanced disease and as a single modality in metastatic disease. Although quality and cost of extra life with this more aggressive treatment need to be defined in prospective studies, CT should be considered standard treatment for patients with locally advanced and metastatic NSCLC able to receive cisplatin-based CT. Its role in stage I and II disease is under current investigation. Ongoing clinical studies with more active agents, novel combined modality treatment strategies and laboratory discoveries continue to emerge which may lead to valuable new treatment options to extend this survival advantage.