Management of limited disease small-cell lung cancer

Abstract

29.6 Summary: The use of combination chemotherapy for SCLC has contributed to significant improvements in local control and survival in limited-stage disease. The initial enthusiasm generated by these significant therapeutic advances has waned with the realization that a plateau has been reached and no additional survival increments have been gained in the last decade. While a number of chemotherapy regimens may be equivalent to EP or EC, alternating regimens or dose-intense regimens have not gained widespread acceptance. The role for thoracic irradiation and prophylactic cranial irradiation in LDSCLC has been firmly established. What remains to be determined is whether chemotherapy combinations incorporating some of the newer targeted agents will move us away from this therapeutic plateau. © 2006 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.