Current Status and Progress of the Treatment of Limited-Disease Small Cell Lung Cancer

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a common pathological type of primary lung cancer originating from the bronchial mucosa or gland. SCLC is characterized by rapid growth, high degree of malignancy, and early metastasis, which poses a great threat to patients’ safety and quality of life. SCLC can be divided into two stages: localized disease and extensive disease. For limited-disease small cell lung cancer (LD-SCLC), radiotherapy and chemotherapy are often used in clinical treatment. In recent years, there are several new advances in the clinical treatment of SCLC, including the improvement of radiotherapy and chemotherapy methods, compatibility of first-line and second-line drugs, as well as immune-targeted therapy. This article discusses the current status of clinical treatment and the research progress of LD-SCLC in the past five years.

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Small cell lung cancer in never-smokers

European Respiratory Journal ◽

10.1183/13993003.01524-2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 47 (3) ◽

pp. 947-953 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

María Torres-Durán ◽

Alberto Ruano-Ravina ◽

Karl T. Kelsey ◽

Isaura Parente-Lamelas ◽

Mariano Provencio ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lung Cancer ◽

Small Cell Lung Cancer ◽

Cell Lung Cancer ◽

Primary Lung Cancer ◽

Small Cell ◽

World Health ◽

Small Cell Lung ◽

Limited Disease ◽

Never Smokers ◽

Residential Radon

Our aim was to describe the characteristics of a case-series of never-smoker small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cases.Cases of SCLC were selected from a prospective, multicenter, hospital-based case–control study performed in Spain. Participants were never-smokers older than 30 years with an anatomo-pathological confirmation of primary lung cancer. We collected clinical and epidemiological variables according to the study's protocol.We included 19 SCLC cases, 18 females (94.7%), median age 75 years (interquartile range (IQR) 70–80 years). Median residential radon concentration was 195 Bq·m−3(IQR 130–229 Bq·m−3). 10 patients had limited disease and nine had extended disease. Median survival was 242 days (IQR 94–496 days); 1- and 2-year survival were 36.8% and 17.6%, respectively. Survival was much higher for individuals with limited disease than for those with extended disease (median 336versus235 days; 1-year survival 50%versus22.2% and 2-year survival 27%versus0%, respectively). Performance status at diagnosis was closely related to survival.SCLC is an infrequent, highly aggressive disease in never-smokers. Survival is poor, even for limited disease. Age at diagnosis in SCLC is higher than that observed for never-smokers with adenocarcinoma. Residential radon exposure is higher than the action levels recommended by the World Health Organization.

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Current Status and Future Perspectives of Liquid Biopsy in Small Cell Lung Cancer

Biomedicines ◽

10.3390/biomedicines9010048 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 48

Author(s):

Patricia Mondelo-Macía ◽

Jorge García-González ◽

Luis León-Mateos ◽

Adrián Castillo-García ◽

Rafael López-López ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lung Cancer ◽

Small Cell Lung Cancer ◽

Cell Lung Cancer ◽

Liquid Biopsy ◽

Small Cell ◽

New Drugs ◽

Current Status ◽

Small Cell Lung ◽

Tumor Biopsy ◽

Future Utility

Approximately 19% of all cancer-related deaths are due to lung cancer, which is the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) affects approximately 15% of patients diagnosed with lung cancer. SCLC is characterized by aggressiveness; the majority of SCLC patients present with metastatic disease, and less than 5% of patients are alive at 5 years. The gold standard of SCLC treatment is platinum and etoposide-based chemotherapy; however, its effects are short. In recent years, treatment for SCLC has changed; new drugs have been approved, and new biomarkers are needed for treatment selection. Liquid biopsy is a non-invasive, rapid, repeated and alternative tool to the traditional tumor biopsy that could allow the most personalized medicine into the management of SCLC patients. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and cell-free DNA (cfDNA) are the most commonly used liquid biopsy biomarkers. Some studies have reported the prognostic factors of CTCs and cfDNA in SCLC patients, independent of the stage. In this review, we summarize the recent SCLC studies of CTCs, cfDNA and other liquid biopsy biomarkers, and we discuss the future utility of liquid biopsy in the clinical management of SCLC.

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