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Factors Affecting Treatment Selection
Source: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Treatment (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version, National Cancer Institute.
Source updated: May 15, 2025 · Captured 2026-09-09.
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Context: Treatment of Newly Diagnosed Stage IV, Relapsed, and Recurrent NSCLC
Forty percent of patients with newly diagnosed non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have stage IV disease. Treatment goals are to prolong survival and control disease-related symptoms. Treatment options include cytotoxic chemotherapy, targeted agents, and immunotherapy. Factors influencing treatment selection include comorbidity, performance status, histology, and molecular and immunologic features of the cancer. Therefore, assessment of tumor-genomic changes and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression is critical before initiating therapy. Radiation therapy and surgery are generally used in selective cases for symptom palliation.
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Factors that affect selection of treatment include:
History and molecular features.
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Age and comorbidity.
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Performance status.
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Preserved source evidence · Not medical advice