From U Calgary: Personalized medicine in metastatic lung cancer: promising targets and current clinical trials (time to leave "non-small cell lung cancer" behind; adenocarcinoma or squamous cell: two very different tumors)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22787415

Curr Oncol. 2012 Jun;19(Supplement 1):S73-S85.

Personalized medicine in metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer: promising targets and current clinical trials.

Black A, Morris D.

Source

Department of Oncology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB.

Abstract

Non-small-cell lung cancer (nsclc) remains the leading cause of cancer-related death globally, with most patients presenting with non-curable disease. Platinum-based doublet chemotherapy has been the cornerstone of treatment for patients with advanced-stage disease and has resulted in a modest increase in overall survival (on the order of an incremental 2 months increased survival per decade) and quality of life. Improved knowledge of the molecular signalling pathways found in nsclc has led to the development of biomarkers with associated targeted therapeutics, thus changing the treatment paradigm for many nsclc patients. In this review, we present a summary of many of the currently investigated nsclc targets, discuss their current clinical trial status, and provide commentary as to the likelihood of their success making a positive impact for nsclc patients.