Chen Z, et al. - In patients with stage IIIA non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), researchers assessed the safety and effectiveness of an intercalated combination of erlotinib and gemcitabine/cisplatin or carboplatin. The study sample consisted of patients with histologically or cytologically proven and CT-confirmed American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage IIIA NSCLC. Thirty-nine patients with stage IIIA NSCLC received two cycles of intercalated use of erlotinib with gemcitabine/cisplatin or carboplatin between April 1, 2011, and July 31, 2014. In patients with stage IIIA NSCLC, intercalated use of erlotinib with neoadjuvant therapy with gemcitabine/cisplatin or carboplatin resulted in an objective response rate of 46.15% and a median overall survival of 25 months. According to this multicenter, open-label, single-arm, phase II trial, for patients with stage IIIA NSCLC, two cycles of intercalated neoadjuvant therapy with erlotinib and gemcitabine/cisplatin or carboplatin have been effective and safe. No cases of increased hematologic toxicity or erlotinib-emergent interstitial lung disease were reported. Given the lack of consensus on the best treatment for stage IIIA NSCLC, this approach should be further explored in larger randomized controlled trials.