Recent trends in the treatment of advanced lung cancer.

Lung cancer is one of the major causes of death in many countries because of high rates of smoking, especially in Asian countries. Lung cancer is divided into two major categories based on their biological characteristics and the selection of treatment methods: non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; 85%) and small cell lung cancer (15%). Early detection and complete resection are very important in NSCLC, but the cure rate is not very high, except in stage 1A disease. It is extremely important to understand the biology of lung cancer and to introduce more effective treatments in order to improve the survival of NSCLC patients. Numerous clinical trials involving lung cancer patients have led to 'state-of-the-art' treatments for each stage of the disease. Progress in chemotherapy and molecular target based therapy have altered the standard therapy for NSCLC.