JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Non-small cell lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Until the last decade, the 5-year overall survival rate for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer was less than 5%. Improved understanding of the biology of lung cancer has resulted in the development of new biomarker-targeted therapies and led to improvements in overall survival for patients with advanced or metastatic disease. ⋯ Improved understanding of the biology and molecular subtypes of non-small cell lung cancer have led to more biomarker-directed therapies for patients with metastatic disease. These biomarker-directed therapies and newer empirical treatment regimens have improved overall survival for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.