Precision medicine in lung cancer: the battle continues

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the United States, with approximately 160,000 estimated deaths in 2016 (1). Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 87% of lung cancers, and 40% of patients have metastatic disease at presentation (2,3). Chemotherapy, the standard treatment of metastatic lung cancer, results in a modest survival benefit compared to best supportive care, and has reached a plateau with no meaningful differences among the many platinum-based regimens used (4).