Perspectives for targeted therapy [Perspektiven der "targeted therapy"]

The main focus of lung cancer therapy is the improvement of long-term survival. At the present time chemotherapy has been the only available systemic therapy, however, this mode of therapy has reached a plateau of effectiveness. New molecular biological therapies are being developed which are referred to as targeted therapies. Besides some negative results, the first randomized studies demonstrate an increased survival using these new agents. © Springer Medizin Verlag 2005.