Therapy for stage IIIB and stage IV non-small cell lung cancer

Complete surgical resection remains the cornerstone of treatment for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Due to the presence of advanced disease at diagnosis or comorbid illness, however, curative resection is feasible in fewer than one-third of these patients. For patients not amenable to surgery, the goal of therapy is to control the tumor both locally and at distant sites. Recent clinical trials have tested new chemotherapeutic regimens, novel radiation techniques (RT), and combined modality approaches. As a result, RT combined with chemotherapy is recognized as the current standard of care for selected patients with unresectable, nonmetastatic NSCLC.