The EMERGING-CTONG 1103 (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01407822) was a multicentre (17 centres in China), open-label, phase II, randomised controlled trial of erlotinib versus gemcitabine combination with cisplatin (GC) as perioperative therapy in patients with stage IIIA-N2 NSCLC and EGFR sensibility mutations.17 In the first prespecified analysis (median follow-up of 25.2 months), neoadjuvant erlotinib resulted in an objective response rate (ORR) of 54.1% vs. 34.3% with GC (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.87–5.84; p = 0.092), but the primary endpoint of ORR was not met. Here, EGFR is linked to non-small cell lung carcinoma.