We examined the feasibility of triplet chemotherapy using cisplatin, docetaxel, and irinotecan for patients with recurrent or refractory non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), retrospectively. Twenty five patients (21 men and 4 women) with NSCLC and good performance status who were :E 70 years old were analyzed. The median age was 58 years. Most patients had performance status 1 (16/25), stage IV disease (18/25) and adenocarcinoma-histology (16/25). Cisplatin and docetaxel were given on day 1 and irinotecan on day 2; the cycle was repeated every 3 weeks. The objective response rate was 39.1% (95% confidence interval: 18.7-59.5%). The median survival time and actual 2-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 14.3 months, 32%, 20%, and 8%, respectively. Of note, only 6 patients were treated with gefitinib at the recurrence after triplet chemotherapy; of these, 4 (67%) achieved a partial response, which might result in favorable survival. Grade 3/4 toxicities consisted of neutropenia (100%), neutropenic fever (56%), nausea/vomiting (40%), and diarrhea (16%); no cases of treatment-related death occurred. Triplet chemotherapy showed impressive survival data in our clinical trial, but proved too toxic for use in treating patients with NSCLC in the clinical practice.