Locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a heterogeneous disease, and we have embarked on an era where patients will benefit from individualized therapeutic strategies based on identifiable molecular characteristics of the tumor. The landmark studies demonstrating the importance of molecular characterization of tumors for NSCLC patients, the promising molecular pathways, and the potential molecular targets/agents for treatment of this disease will be reviewed. Understanding these issues will aid in the development of rationally designed clinical trials, so as to determine best means of appropriately incorporating these molecular strategies, to the current standard of radiation and chemotherapy regimens, for the treatment of locally advanced NSCLC.
Keywords: Combined modality therapy; Epidermal growth factor receptor; Individualized medicine; Lung neoplasms; Tyrosine kinase inhibitor.