Background: Chemotherapy in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has reached a plateau, with no evidence of substantial improvement in survival. However, recent advances in the management of lung cancer have paved the way for the optimization of treatment. Several lines of evidence indicate that multiple genetic disturbances found in human cancer cell lines and in the tumors of NSCLC patients have a role as predictive markers for response and survival with chemotherapy regimens now in use.
Objective: This review highlights relevant translational research findings on potential predictive markers in lung cancer with therapeutic impact in both the near and distant future.
Conclusion: The next step is to develop clinical trials that will prospectively validate the benefits of customizing chemotherapy, which should translate into an improvement in outcome in NSCLC patients.