We present the treatment rationale and study design of the TALISMAN (TArceva and docetaxeL In former-Smokers MAle patients with recurrent Non-small-cell lung cancer) study, an open-label, randomized phase II trial of erlotinib (arm A) or intermittent erlotinib and docetaxel (arm B) in male former smokers affected by recurrent squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In arm A, treatment consists of erlotinib 150 mg daily orally until progression or inacceptable toxicity; in arm B, treatment consists of docetaxel 75 mg/m² on day 1 and erlotinib 150 mg orally on days 2-16, recycled every 3 weeks up to 4 cycles followed, in patients not progressed, by erlotinib 150 mg daily orally until disease progression or inacceptable toxicity. The primary endpoint of this study is the rate of patients without progression at 6 months, and secondary objectives include median progression-free survival, median overall survival, activity, and toxicity. In addition, translational research evaluating EGFR and KRAS mutational status will be investigated for both arms.