Non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract

This congress report gives an overview of the most important news concerning lung cancer presented at ASCO 2008 meeting. The most interesting highlights were: (1) For the 1st-line treatment of patients with advanced NSCLC, Cetuximab, added to a platinum-based chemotherapy, sets a new standard and side effects (like acne-like rash) were as expected and manageable. (2) Insulin-like growth factor type I receptor (IGF-IR) in combination with chemotherapy could be an optimistic therapeutic option for NSCLC with squamous cell histology since first results proved a response rate of 72% in this histological subtype. (3) Erlotinib as 1st-line treatment for elderly patients showed encouraging efficacy. (4) For patients without progression after the first line regimen, early introduction of a second line agent is an efficient novel therapeutic option. Further validating studies are warranted.