TRAIL apoptotic pathway-targeted therapies for NSCLC

The global burden of lung cancer is a death every 4 seconds, round the clock, 365 days a year, with a global incidence estimated at 1,350,000 in 2002 (1). Lung cancers are classified into two major types: Small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). NSCLC constitutes 75% of primary lung cancers and the prognosis for patients with NSCLC is poor. Less than 25% of new NSCLC cases present with local stage I or II disease treatable by surgical resection and chemotherapies; however, up to 50% of these stage I and II cases develop recurrence regardless of the treatments (2).