Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) is and remains a major economic and social burden for the diagnosed patient and their families in terms of suffering and bereavement. It has been estimated that the annual cost for treatment is approaching US$10 billion in the USA alone; worldwide, there are no signs of abating and the disease is firmly entrenched as the most common cause of cancer death in Europe and the USA. Another 40 countries worldwide are rapidly joining the mortality rates, and despite some encouraging decline in smoking, American women still are afflicted with one of the highest death rates in the world ? no doubt a reflection of the earlier adoption of cigarette consumption. Most of the smokers who develop NSCLC now are ex-smokers and this unfortunate trend is expected to last another 25-30 years.
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