Docetaxel, a taxane, binds to and stabilizes tubulin, thereby inhibiting microtubule disassembly resulting in cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase and cell death. In patients with NSCLC previously treated with a platinum-based chemotherapy, second line therapy with docetaxel afforded a median overall survival (OS) in the range from 5.7 to 7.5 months. The most common adverse reactions included infections, neutropenia, anemia, febrile neutropenia, hypersensitivity, thrombocytopenia, neuropathy, dysgeusia, dyspnea, constipation, anorexia, nail disorders, fluid retention, asthenia, pain, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, mucositis, alopecia, skin reactions, and myalgia. Since the approval of docetaxel in 1999 as the second line treatment for advanced or metastatic NSCLC, other drugs, namely pemetrexed, erlotinib, have been approved in the same indication. However, despite the availability of newer treatment, patient survival did not demonstrably improve over docetaxel. The OS from these trials remained in the range of 5.6-8.3 months.