Non-cisplatin based chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Platinum-based, especially cisplatin-based chemotherapy is still the backbone of combination chemotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Several combinations of cisplatin-or carboplatin-based chemotherapy are widely used in the treatment of advanced NSCLC. However, cisplatin is associated with considerable toxicity and large amount of fluid infusion that may lead to reluctance on the part of both physicians and patients to accept cisplatin-based chemotherapy for incurable NSCLC. Carboplatin has also been a widely used agent in the treatment of NSCLC instead of cisplatin. However, it is controversial whether carboplatin has the same activity as cisplatin or not. Several reports showed that carboplatin was not superior but almost equal to cisplatin in terms of survival. Third generation agents have been developed in the past decades including gemcitabine, paclitaxel, docetaxel, vinorelbine and irinotecan. All of them have promising levels of anti-tumor activity for NSCLC and the development of non-platinum-based chemotherapy was expected. Several randomized trials and meta-analysis have compared platinum-based combination chemotherapy with non-platinum chemotherapy based on various combinations of these third generation agents. The analysis of these trials indicated that non-platinum based chemotherapy was not superior to platinum-based chemotherapy for survival time but less toxicity. Third-generation-based non-platinum combinations are still treatment options for advanced NSCLC patients who are not eligible for platinum-based chemotherapy.