The oral EGFR inhibitors Iressa and Tarceva both have activity in advanced NSCLC, with proven responses in a minority of patients and improvements in cancer-related symptoms as well.

Both standard chemotherapy and EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been approved in NSCLC, and other anti-EGFR agents like erbitux/cetuximab and vectabix/panitumumab are also commercially available for treating other cancers and are being studied in lung cancer. Iressa was previously approved as a single agent in previously treated patients with advanced NSCLC, and Tarceva is now available but approved also as a single agent therapy. However, some oncologists give EGFR inhibitor therapies in combination with standard chemo.

Locally advanced, or stage III, NSCLC, can potentially include patients for whom surgery is an option, but for many patients with stage IIIA and a majority of those with stage IIIB NSCLC, a non-surgical approach is the best treatment recommendation. It's important to keep in mind that the goal of treatment for patients with locally advanced NSCLC but who don't have a malignant pleural effusion (fluid inside the chest but outside of the lung, with cancer cells in it) can potentially be cured.