Disappointing phase III results for thalidomide combined with gemcitabine and carboplatin in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer might be related to poor efficacy of targeted therapies in unselected patients. We argue that current trial designs are flawed because they expose large numbers of such patients to potentially harmful treatment, and suggest that future research strategies should prioritize identification of predictive markers.
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M. Reck declares that he has acted as a consultant, received honoraria from or is a member of the speakers' bureau for the following companies: Astra-Zeneca, Eli Lilly, Hoffman-La Roche, Merck. U. Gatzemeier declares no competing interests.
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Reck, M., Gatzemeier, U. Thalidomide in lung cancer therapy—what have we learned?. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 7, 134–135 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2010.11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2010.11
