Individualized therapy in the adjuvant setting for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Abstract

Based on meta-analyses and the results of several trials, adjuvant chemotherapy is currently recommended for stage II and stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients after complete tumor resection, and may be considered for patients with stage IB NSCLC > 4 cm. As individualized therapy becomes integrated into the care of advanced NSCLC, its role in early stage NSCLC and, in particular, in the adjuvant setting, also will become of greater importance. In the adjuvant setting, prognostic and predictive biomarkers might identify which patients have a worse prognosis and, among them, those who could benefit from customized chemotherapy. In the present review, we summarized the available data and ongoing trials testing the role of individualized adjuvant therapy (chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy) in NSCLC. 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York