The aim of this phase II trial was to assess the efficacy and tolerability of docetaxel/vinorelbine as second-line therapy. Thirty-two patients with a performance status (PS) of <or= 2 (5 with locally advanced and 27 with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer [NSCLC]) who were previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy, were recruited. Docetaxel 75 mg/m2 on day 1 and vinorelbine 20 mg/m2 on days 1 and 5 were administered every 3 weeks with dexamethasone premedication but without prophylactic granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and antibiotics. The overall response rate (intent-to-treat analysis) was 9.5%, including 3 patients with a partial response, 15 (47%) with stable disease, and 9 (28%) with progressive disease. Myelosupression was the limiting toxicity, with 8 episodes of febrile neutropenia and 3 deaths due to sepsis. Median overall survival and progression-free survival were 25 weeks and 13 weeks, respectively. Patients with a PS of 2 (P < 0.02) and elevated lactate dehydrogenase (P < 0.01) had a worse prognosis. Histology of adenocarcinoma appeared to positively influence survival (P = 0.09). Our study confirms that the docetaxel/vinorelbine schedule has activity in NSCLC patients pretreated with platinum-based therapies.