Demographics of the study patients
| Characteristics | |
| Age yrs | 63 (32–89) |
| Sex | |
| Male | 372 (72.5) |
| Female | 141 (27.5) |
| Disease stage | |
| III | 123 (24.0) |
| IV | 384 (74.8) |
| Other | 6 (1.2) |
| WHO performance status | |
| Good (0–1) | 191 (37.3) |
| Intermediate (2) | 133 (25.9) |
| Poor (3–4) | 73 (14.2) |
| Unknown | 116 (22.6) |
| Smoking status | |
| Never | 40 (7.8) |
| Ever | 448 (87.3) |
| Unknown | 25 (4.9) |
| Histology | |
| Adenocarcinoma | 252 (49.1) |
| AD/BAC | 34 (6.7) |
| Squamous cell | 135 (26.3) |
| Other NSCLC | 92 (17.9) |
| Prior local treatment | |
| Yes | 230 (44.8) |
| No | 283 (55.2) |
| Prior chemotherapy regimens | |
| 0 | 42 (8.2) |
| 1 | 170 (33.1) |
| ≥2 | 301 (58.7) |
| Prior chemotherapy agents | |
| Platinum | 418 (81.5) |
| Taxane | 260 (50.7) |
| Gemcitabine | 366 (71.4) |
| Vinorelbine | 155 (30.2) |
| Other | 177 (34.5) |
Data are presented as median (range) and n (%), unless otherwise stated. WHO: World Health Organization; AD/BAC: adenocarcinoma with bronchioloalveolar features; NSCLC: nonsmall cell lung cancer.