The treatment of limited small cell lung cancer: a report of the progress made and future prospects.
Publication/Presentation Date
1-1-2002
Abstract
The improvements in the treatment of small cell lung cancer over the last 30 years have been realised by understanding that it is a systemic disease, but that areas of bulk and sanctuary require a complementary therapy. Despite successful strategies using combinations and thoracic radiotherapy, there remains uncertainty about what the best regimens are, their timing and their intensity. However, earlier concurrent therapy and rather brief intense chemotherapy and radiotherapy seem to produce the best results in moderately fit patients of all ages. How to select the fit patients and what to do about the less fit ones remains controversial and have economic consequences for governments and payers. Despite a meta-analysis demonstrating the success of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI), doubts linger about its safety, despite nothing more than anecdotal evidence from a previous era. The role of surgery continues to be explored, more in Europe than North America or Asia. Strategies for treatment of minimum residual disease seem a focus. New drugs, molecular targeted therapy, immunotherapy and other molecular therapies offer promise and theory, but there is little evidence about their place in the treatment protocols of today.
Volume
38
Issue
2
First Page
279
Last Page
291
ISSN
0959-8049
Published In/Presented At
Turrisi, A. T., & Sherman, C. A. (2002). The treatment of limited small cell lung cancer: a report of the progress made and future prospects. European journal of cancer (Oxford, England : 1990), 38(2), 279–291. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0959-8049(01)00364-1
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
PubMedID
11803144
Department(s)
Department of Medicine
Document Type
Article