The treatment of limited small cell lung cancer: a report of the progress made and future prospects.
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.
Turrisi
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AT
Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical University of South Carolina, 169 Ashley Avenue, POB 250318, Charleston, SC 29425, USA. turrisi@radonc.musc.edu
Sherman
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CA
D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy / Q000379:methods; D016371:Cranial Irradiation / Q000379:methods; D019583:Dose Fractionation, Radiation; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
D019496:Cancer Vaccines