Therapies in the pipeline for small-cell lung cancer.
Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) represents ~15% of all cases of lung cancer and is characterized by a rapid tumour doubling time, early onset disease dissemination and high sensitivity to chemotherapy.



We searched MEDLINE and OVID databases for articles in English published from January 1980 to February 2015.



Platinum-based chemotherapy, thoracic radiotherapy and prophylactic cranial irradiation are standard of care. Benefit from second-line chemotherapy is limited.



The role of platinum/irinotecan chemotherapy in the Western population and the role of maintenance therapies remain to be established.



Knowledge of the biology of SCLC has expanded exponentially and many potential therapeutic targets have been identified.



The use of circulating tumour cells can help investigating molecular alterations occurring within tumour cells, understanding drug resistance mechanisms and evaluating new treatments.
Department of Medical Oncology, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester M20 4BX, UK Department of Medical Oncology, Papageorgiou General Hospital, Thessaloniki 56403, Greece.
Ourania
O
Romanidou
Department of Medical Oncology, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester M20 4BX, UK Head and Neck Medical Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy.
Martina
M
Imbimbo
University of Athens School of Medicine, Athens, Greece.
Giannis
G
Mountzios
Department of Medical Oncology, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester M20 4BX, UK.
Aidalena
A
Abidin
Dipartimento di internistica clinica e sperimentale 'F. Magrassi e A. Lanzara', Seconda Università degli studi di Napoli, Naples, Italy.
Floriana
F
Morgillo
Department of Medical Oncology, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester M20 4BX, UK Department of Medical Oncology, University Hospital of South Manchester, Manchester M23 9LT, UK raffaele.califano@christie.nhs.uk.
Raffaele
R
Califano
D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000556:secondary; D059248:Chemoradiotherapy / Q000639:trends; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D016371:Cranial Irradiation / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D059351:Organ Sparing Treatments / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D017671:Platinum Compounds / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D055752:Small Cell Lung Carcinoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D006113:United Kingdom
D017671:Platinum Compounds; D002945:Cisplatin
chemotherapy; liquid biopsy; rechallenge; small-cell lung cancer; targeted therapies; thoracic radiotherapy