title: Long survival of a small-cell lung cancer patient who received maintenance chemotherapy with irinotecan.
abstract: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for approximately 15% of all lung cancers. It is characterized by rapid tumor growth and early metastasis to multiple organs. Response to initial chemotherapy is generally good; however, the majority of patients develop recurrence and the prognosis of such patients is reportedly 2-4 months. Evolution of the treatment for SCLC has stagnated, and cisplatin + etoposide has been the standard chemotherapy for decades. Meanwhile, the combination of cisplatin + irinotecan has demonstrated equivalent efficacy to cisplatin + etoposide. Recently, maintenance chemotherapy has been extensively investigated in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and is currently recommended as a standard treatment in clinical guidelines. On the contrary, a maintenance strategy has not been established for SCLC. Here, we describe an SCLC patient who received maintenance chemotherapy with irinotecan for more than 2 years after induction chemotherapy with cisplatin + irinotecan, and survived long term with no recurrence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshitaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yagi
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Osakafu Saiseikai Noe Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Young Hak
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Osakafu Saiseikai Noe Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Noriyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tajima
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Osakafu Saiseikai Noe Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Kiichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Osakafu Saiseikai Noe Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Kensaku
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aihara
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Osakafu Saiseikai Noe Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Hong Hyun
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Soo
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Osakafu Saiseikai Noe Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinpachi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamaoka
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Michiaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mishima
keywords: Extensive disease; Irinotecan; Long survivor; Maintenance; Small-cell lung cancer