Recent progress has, as practical consequence, placed chemotherapy as the first-line therapy for any type of lung cancer, except for stages I and II non-small cell lung cancers where surgery alone remains the best approach so far. Indeed, the introduction of cisplatin-based chemotherapy in front-line ("neo-adjuvant") has significantly improved in non small lung cancer the results of surgery and radiotherapy in stage III and of supportive care in stage IV, mainly in term of survival. The development of new cytostatic agents and growth factors and the evolution of therapeutic concepts have lead to multiple clinical investigations that are reviewed in both small cell and non small cell lung cancers.