We combined paclitaxel with cis-platin as second-line treatment in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had previously undergone first-line therapy with cis-platin combined with cytotoxic drugs other than taxanes. The aim was to evaluate the effect of this cytotoxic combination in patients with refractory tumour to cis-platin. All 36 patients in the study population were evaluable for toxicity and 35 for response. Nine patients were stage IIIa, 15 IIIb and 12 IV. Prior treatment involved cis-platin plus vindesine and epirubicin or vinblastine and mitomycin-C; second-line treatment involved cis-platin (90 mg/m2) and paclitaxel (175 mg/m2), administered once every 3 weeks with 2-6 courses per patient. Partial response (40%) was obtained in 14 patients, 8 of whom had achieved minor response or stable disease after first-line treatment. Response duration was a minimum of 3 months. Toxicity was tolerable; only neurotoxicity was grade II in 16.7% of the patients. On the basis of our results, paclitaxel can be recommended as a very effective cytotoxic drug for NSCLC patients.