"Targeted Therapies" in NSCLC - Present and future ["Targeted Therapies" beim NSCLC - Gegenwart und zukunft]

During the last decades considerable progress has been made in the treatment of Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) especially resulting from the introduction of chemotherapy. Based on the results of basic-science, a new era of medical oncology has now been entered. Targets of pivotal importance for the development and perpetuation of malignant proliferation have been identified and pharmaceutical compounds against these structures have been developed ("Targeted Therapies"). The resulting broadening of the therapeutic armamentarium has already changed some of the treatment-guidelines. At the same time, a large number of new drugs has entered the stage of clinical development and every oncologist is confronted with a large amount of new data and the resulting difficulties to keep up to date. Accordingly, the aim of this review is to provide an update on the most important recent developments in the field of "Targeted Therapy" against NSCLC. © Springer-Verlag 2007.