Abstract:

Lung cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and non-small cell lung cancer is the most common type of lung cancer. Despite many clinical trials of platinum-based chemotherapy in combination with various drugs, the median survival time of patients with non-small cell lung cancer remains poor. The overall 5-year survival rate of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer is approximately 15%, and has improved only marginally in recent years. A recent milestone in this field has been the development of molecular-targeting drugs, among which gefitinib and erlotinib targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) have improved the efficacy of therapy for non-small cell lung cancer. Anti-angiogenetic drug, such as bevacizumab, has been used in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. Moreover, the discovery of echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4/anaplastic lymphoma kinase(EML4-ALK) fusion gene has contributed to the marvelous progress in research of lung cancer. In this review, the drugs used in individualized treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer, such as EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors and EML4-ALK fusion gene inhibitors are introduced.

Key words: non-small cell lung cancer, individual treatment, survival