This prevention can be achieved by either discontinuing cisplatin in patients whose tumors show cisplatin-induced pro-metastatic changes or by combining cisplatin with agents that block stroma-mediated cancer cell dissemination, such as selective CXCR4 inhibitors, which would be useful not only in cisplatin treatment of localized lung cancer but also in treatment of metastatic lung cancer. The gene discussed is CXCR4; the disease is cancer.