SEOM clinical guidelines for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer: an updated edition

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide updated recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of patients non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The staging system for lung cancer has recently been revised by the International Association for Study of Lung Cancer and patients with NSCLC shall now be staged according to the UICC system 7th edition. Recommendations for treatment were based on treatment strategies that improve overall survival. In functionally fit patients with stage I–II disease surgical resection is recommended. Four cycles of adjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy is recommended in patients with pathologic stage II-III. For patients with stage IIIA and non-bulky mediastinal lymph node survival was significantly improved with induction chemotherapy plus surgical resection. Patients with unresectable or bulky stage IIIA and those with stage IIIB, should be treated with platinum-based chemotherapy and thoracic radiotherapy. For patients with metastatic disease and performance status of 0 or 1, a platinum-based two-drug combination of cytotoxic drugs is recommended. Nonplatinum cytotoxic doublets are acceptable for patients with contraindications to platinum therapy. For elderly patients and those with performance status of 2, a single cytotoxic drug is sufficient. Stop first-line cytotoxic chemotherapy at disease progression or after four cycles in patients who are not responding to treatment. Stop two-drug cytotoxic chemotherapy at six cycles even in patients who are responding to therapy. The first-line use of gefitinib may be recommended for patients with known epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation; for negative or unknown EGFR mutation status, cytotoxic chemotherapy is preferred. Bevacizumab is recommended with platinum-based chemotherapy, except for patients with certain clinical characteristics. Maintenance therapy with pemetrexed or erlotinib increases survival in patients who did not progress after 4 cycles of a platinum based chemotherapy. Docetaxel, erlotinib, gefitinib, or pemetrexed is recommended as second-line therapy. Erlotinib is recommended as third-line therapy for patients who have not received prior erlotinib or gefitinib. Data are insufficient to recommend the routine third-line use of cytotoxic drugs.