[Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer: current state and future]

Abstract

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) continues to be the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the world. The combination of chemotherapy and surgery is a standard of care for resectable NSCLC. If the adjuvant chemotherapy is a standard, the role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy is still debated. Most trials of neoadjuvant chemotherapy were closed when the positive studies of adjuvant chemotherapy were published. Only the Spanish trial NATCH, designed to compare the neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the adjuvant chemotherapy, was fully completed. Therefore, the trials of preoperative chemotherapy lack strength to become proof of concept. Confirmation will come from meta-analyses. Two of them are positive. Others are in progress. The current research is to select the patients according to predictive factors to chemotherapy response.