Updates in non-small cell lung cancer - insights from the 2009 45(th )annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology

We have reviewed the pivotal presentations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) from the 2009 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. We have discussed the scientific data, the impact on standards of care, and ongoing clinical trials. In patients with early-stage NSCLC, there is still no data to support the superiority of either neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy. However, adjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy has sustained the survival benefits after median follow-up of more than 9 years. The first-line treatment with inhibitors of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) could be considered for the treatment of EGFR mutated patients with metastatic disease. Several maintenance studies with cytotoxic or biological agents have also demonstrated promising outcomes. Finally, novel targeted agents such as inhibitors of histone deacetylase and multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor have shown promising activity in NSCLC treatment.