New strategies in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung: identification of tumor drivers to personalize therapy.

Treatment for non-small cell lung cancer has been improving, with personalized treatment increasingly becoming a reality in the clinic. Unfortunately, these advances have largely been confined to the treatment of adenocarcinomas. Treatment options for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung have lagged behind, partly because of a lack of understanding of the oncogenes driving SCC. Cytotoxic chemotherapy continues to be the only treatment option for many of our patients, and no genetic tests are clinically useful for patients with SCC. Recent advances in basic science have identified mutations and alterations in protein expression frequently found in SCCs, and clinical trials are ongoing to target these changes.