Non-small-cell lung carcinoma (
NSCLC) is any type of epithelial
lung cancer other than
small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). NSCLC accounts for about 85% of all lung cancers. As a class, NSCLCs are relatively insensitive to
chemotherapy, compared to small cell carcinoma. When possible, they are primarily treated by surgical resection with curative intent, although chemotherapy is increasingly being used both pre-operatively (
neoadjuvant chemotherapy) and post-operatively (
adjuvant chemotherapy).