Gemcitabine: efficacy in the treatment of advanced stage nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in many countries. Approximately half of the patients with non-small cell lung cancer have advanced disease and systemic chemotherapy, especially platinum-based doublets, is currently the standard treatment. Several trials have recently indicated the importance of histological subtype for treatment with molecular target chemotherapy and pemetrexed. Over the last decade, gemcitabine, a pyrimidine nucleoside antimetabolite, has been one of the most effective agents for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. It is unknown whether histological type is a predictor of the outcome of treatment with this agent. This is a review of the past trials and reviews of first-line treatment for advanced NSCLC, focusing on efficacy and safety of treatment with gemcitabine according to histological subtype.