[Gemcitabine + Cisplatin combinations in advanced non-small cell lung cancer].

Until recently there was widespread scepticism among oncologists about the true benefit of chemotherapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. The results of randomised trials comparing the efficacy of chemotherapy in addition to the best palliative treatments with the same supportive care given alone have been contradictory. It has been necessary to wait for the publication of a number of meta-analyses during the 1990s to have scientific evidence of the efficacy of cytotoxic therapy on the mean survival time of patients with metastatic tumours.