Systemic therapy of elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer—individualized treatment is key

Approximately 2.1 million individuals are diagnosed with lung cancer worldwide every year. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) comprises 80？85% of these cancers. About 40% of patients with NSCLC present with advanced disease at the time of initial diagnosis and receive palliative therapy. Patients without documented driver mutations in their cancers receive first-line chemotherapy with platinum-based doublets. Chemotherapy can be combined with bevacizumab or necitumumab in selected patients. At the time of disease progression, these patients are treated with docetaxel plus/minus nintedanib, docetaxel plus/minus ramucirumab, pemetrexed, erlotinib or afatinib. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have recently become part of the standard treatment for patients with advanced NSCLC. Patients with driver mutation-positive NSCLC receive first-line therapy with corresponding tyrosine kinase inhibitors