OBJECTIVES Lung cancer is a major cause of cancer-related deaths and thus represents a global health problem. To date, decisions on which treatment to use are often driven by healthcare professionals’ opinions. The perspective of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) on the importance of different treatment criteria and the ranking of these decision criteria are rarely taken into consideration. Aim of the study is the evaluation of patients’ preferences for different treatment characteristics of NSCLC patients. METHODS The literature review and 10 qualitative interviews revealed seven patient-relevant treatment attributes. A Discrete-Choice Experiment (DCE) was used to rank the patient-relevant treatment characteristics. The DCE was conducted using a fractional factorial design (Ngene) and the statistical data analysis used random effect logit and GLLAMM latent class models for subgroup identification. RESULTS In total N=211 patients with metastatic NSCLC participated in the computer-assisted personal interviews. The estimation revealed a clear dominance for "progression-free survival" (coef.: 1.087) and "tumor-associated symptoms (cough, shortness of breath and pain)" (coef.: 1.090), followed by the side effects: “nausea and vomiting" (coef.: 0.605), “rash” (coef.: 0.432), “diarrhea” (coef.: 0.427) and “tiredness and fatigue” (coef.: 0.423). The "mode of administration" was less important for participants (coef.: 0.141). CONCLUSIONS "Progression-free survival" and "tumor-associated symptoms" were identified as key patient-relevant characteristics in this study. The sole consideration of the "progression-free survival" as foundation for decisions is not sufficient from the patients' perspective and multiple criteria are important. Subgroup analysis revealed that the importance of "progression-free survival" increases with increased therapy experience. Basically, the results give insight into how much a deciding factor affects the treatment decision from the perspective of patients. In addition, the results of this survey can provide a basis for patient-oriented evaluation of treatment options in NSCLC.