Management of non-small cell lung cancer according to staging--an update

The treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) depends on staging based on tumour (T), nodal (N) and metastasis (M) descriptors. Stages I and II tumours are potentially curable with surgery alone. Stage IIIA T3 tumours are also potentially operable. Preoperative chemotherapy appears promising in downstaging stage IIIA disease to enable surgical resection. Recent meta-analyses did not support the use of postoperative chemotherapy for stages I, II and IIIA diseases, but were supportive of the use of cisplatin-based chemotherapy in stage IIIA N2 disease (+ radiotherapy), stage IIIB disease (+ radiotherapy) and in metastatic stage IV disease in improving survival. New chemotherapy agents available over the past few years would further improve the efficacy of chemotherapy in NSCLC.