Cisplatin-etoposide (CE) and mitomycin, ifosfamide and cisplatin (MIC) combinations are active conventional regimens in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In this retrospective study, we compared response rates, survival, duration of response, time-to-progression and toxicity of CE with MIC regimens in treatment of previously untreated patients with stage IIIB and IV NSCLC. We first determined the patients with NSCLC who had stage IIIB or IV and received CE or MIC between January 1997 and December 2002 in our clinic. Out of the eligible patients, 45 received MIC, 167 received CE. In addition 45 MIC patients, we included 46 of the 167 CE patients in the study by selecting one patient of every three patient randomly. In CE protocol, cisplatin 80 mg/m(2) on day 1 and etoposide 100 mg/m(2) on days 1, 2, 3 (every three weeks); in MIC protocol, mitomycin 6 mg/m(2), ifosfamide 3 g/m(2), cisplatin 50 mg/m(2) on day 1 (every three weeks) were performed. For statistical analysis, chi-square, t-test, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, Cox regression analysis and logistic regression analysis were used by SPSS 11.5 computer program. The overall response rate was 33.3% in the MIC arm and 34.8% in the CE arm. A respective median survival was 28 weeks for the MIC arm and 35 weeks for the CE arm. Median duration of response and time to progression in each groups were 23 and 14 weeks in MIC arm and 32 and 22 weeks respectively. There was no statistical difference for response rates, duration of survival and response, time top progression and toxicity between the two arms. We consider that the combinations of MIC and CE have similar activity and they can be used confidently in advanced NSCLC.