Management of non small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND: The broncopulmonary cancer is a major problem of public health whose diagnosis is most of the time unfavorable. For a long time, strategies of management of cancer have not taken into consideration much the histological type and few authors have studied the implication of histological type of cancer on the future of patients having cancer. AIM: Taking into account the results of recent studies, we propose to review the recent epidemiological and biological aspects of bronchial cancers and then to study the impact on the therapeutic strategy. METHODS: Review of literature RESULTS: The scientific progress and the discovery of new mechanisms of carcinogenesis considerably enlarge the therapeutic potential targets and enable to adopt a more specific approach of the cancer cell. CONCLUSION: Despite the progress observed in thoracic cancerology, the benefits concerning survival remain modest. The oncoming of new molecules specifically targeting a stage of oncogenesis enables a better therapeutic selectivity and a lesser toxicity.