Hanyang Medical Reviews  2014;34(1):31-36

doi:10.7599/hmr.2014.34.1.31

Cytotoxic Chemotherapy for Non-small Cell Lung Cancer.

Byeong Bae PARK 1

Affiliations

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Keywords

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; Antineoplastic Agents

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

Abstract

Non-small-cell lung cancer is one of the leading causes of deaths from cancer worldwide. There have been remarkable advances in the targeted treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) over the past several years. Survival outcomes are steadily improving as management paradigms shift in the diagnosis and treatment of advanced NSCLC. Customizing treatment based on histology and molecular typing has become a standard of care in this era of targeted therapy. Even as new chemotherapeutic agents are proving effective, a pivotal role for platinum-based chemotherapy doublets has been confirmed. Maintenance chemotherapy has become an option, but determining which patients will most benefit from it remains controversial in the real-world setting. Ongoing efforts to overcome resistance to targeted agents utilizing combination regimens of chemotherapy plus targeted agents, are currently being explored and optimized. This review highlights recent developments in novel chemotherapeutics. Despite advances in molecular medicine, there remains an essential role for chemotherapy in advanced NSCLC, even in the recent targeted therapy era.