 1. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE 1.1 Background Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the world. Non-small-cell lung cancer NSCLC, the most common type of lung cancer, comprises about 80 of all lung cancer cases, and five-year survival across all stages is about 12. More than 60 of all NSCLC patients have advanced or metastatic disease that is not suitable for curative resection at diagnosis. Platinum-based chemotherapy remains the cornerstone of treatment for these patients and results in a small but statistically significant improvement in survival compared with supportive care alone.But the regimen is also associated with moderate to severe hematological and non-hematological toxic effects in a majority of patients. 