Adjuvant chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer

Recently, several randomized trials with a large number of enrolled patients have shown that postoperative adjuvant treatment improves survival among patients with completely resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Platinum-based chemotherapy has been reported to be effective for patients with postoperative stage I to IIIA NSCLC in western countries. On the other hand, uracil-tegafur was also shown to improve survival among patients with stage I adenocarcinoma in Japan. We reviewed the results of recent randomized trials and meta-analyses, and discuss the current role and problems related to adjuvant chemotherapy in NSCLC.