title: Genetic changes in small cell lung carcinoma.
abstract: Small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) accounts for approximately 15% of all lung cancer cases. Despite a frequently good response to first-line treatment with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, early relapse occurs in the majority of patients and 5-year survival is only about 5%. Therefore, there is a need to develop novel treatments to improve the outcome of patients with SCLC. To fulfil this need, it is critical to gain further understanding on the molecular basis of SCLC and specifically to identify novel therapeutic targets. Clinical trials with molecularly targeted agents have been performed with little success in the past, but recently many promising oncogenic pathways have been discovered and novel targeted therapies are under evaluation. In this review, we summarise the most relevant genetic and signalling pathway alterations reported to date in SCLC and discuss the potential therapeutic implications of such events.
authors.affiliation: Medical Oncology Service, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain. Earriola@imas.imim.es
authors.forename: Edurne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Arriola
authors.forename: Israel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cañadas
authors.forename: Montse
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arumí
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rojo
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rovira
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Albanell
mesh_terms: D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000235:genetics*; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*