An update on European randomized studies in non-small cell lung cancer

Less than 25% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients present with surgically resectable stage I and II disease, and the majority of patients will eventually die of disseminated disease. Cisplatin-based chemotherapy has been shown to prolong survival and improve quality of life in patients with stage III and IV disease. In recent years, new chemotherapeutic agents (eg, gemcitabine, paclitaxel, docetaxel, vinorelbine, and irinotecan) have shown definite activity in advanced NSCLC. The activity of these agents has led to phase II studies combining them with cisplatin, producing response rates that are generally in excess of 35%. Randomized trials suggest that survival is improved when combinations of gemcitabine/cisplatin, vinorelbine/cisplatin, and paclitaxel/cisplatin are compared with cisplatin alone or cisplatin/etoposide. The following report reviews the ongoing trials in NSCLC.