title: Immunotherapy treatments for small-cell lung cancer: past, present and future.
abstract: Small-cell lung cancer remains a considerable cause of morbidity and mortality. To this day, first-line therapy continues to be a platinum agent with etoposide, combined with radiation therapy in cases of limited stage disease. Numerous, largely unsuccessful, attempts at controlling the disease have included different chemotherapy strategies, the utilization of antiangiogenic agents, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors and other treatment modalities. Immunotherapy, including vaccines, immune response modifiers, inhibitors of check point blockades and immunologic-targeted toxins may well be the future of treatment, not only to enhance the proven chemotherapy effects, but to improve the control of minimal residual disease and the response with salvage chemotherapy. This article reviews the current advances in immunotherapeutic strategies against small-cell lung cancer.
authors.affiliation: Hematology Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center - Graduate Medical Education Office, 12902 Magnolia Drive, Tampa, FL 33612, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Whitehurst
authors.affiliation: Thoracic Oncology Program, Moffitt Cancer Center, Office Building Level 1, 12902 Magnolia Drive, Tampa, FL 33612, USA.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chiappori