title: Response to cisplatin-etoposide treatment and survival in patients with small-cell lung cancer in North Lebanon.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the clinical features of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) cases diagnosed in adults in North Lebanon.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive analysis of 125 SCLC cases diagnosed in a tertiary care hospital in North Lebanon.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred and twenty-five patients diagnosed with SCLC comprised the study group; 109 male and 16 female patients aged from 35 to 84 years with a mean age of 56 +/- 7.4 years. 95.4% of male and 31.2% of female patients were current smokers. The most frequent symptoms were cough, dyspnea, and chest pain in 24.8, 18.4, and 16.8%, respectively. Staging procedures were performed in all patients: 49 (39.2%) patients had limited stage (LS) and 76 (60.8%) patients had extensive stage (ES) disease. Metastasis was most frequent to bones (40.8%) followed by liver (24.8%) and brain (14.4%). The response rates, including both complete and partial responses to therapy, were 80, 41.5, and 52% for LS, ES, and overall patients, respectively. Median survival was 311, 163, and 201 days for LS, ES, and overall patients, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Clinical features of the patients were very similar to those reported in the literature except that there were lower median survival values and response rates to treatment, including both complete and partial responses for both LS and ES disease. The results should be considered preliminary with regard to the activity of the chemotherapy regimen, given the statistical limitation of the small number of patients.
authors.affiliation: Public Health Faculty, Lebanese University, Tripoli, Lebanon. wkalajie@ul.edu.lb
authors.forename: Wassim Khalil
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Kalaajieh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005047:Etoposide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007861:Lebanon; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D005047:Etoposide; D002945:Cisplatin