Lung cancer - small cell Health Article

Treatment

Because SCLC spreads quickly throughout the body, treatment must include cancer-killing drugs (chemotherapy) taken by mouth or injected into the body.

• Chemotherapy may be combined with radiation therapy of the lungs in people who have limited disease.
• The most commonly used drugs in the U.S. are etoposide with either cisplatin or carboplatin.

Because the disease has usually spread by the time it is diagnosed, very few patients with SCLC are helped by having surgery. Surgery is only considered when there is only one tumor that has not spread. Chemotherapy or radiation will be needed after surgery.

Combination chemotherapy and radiation treatment is given to people with extensive SCLC. However, the treatment only helps relieve symptoms. It does not cure the disease.

Often, SCLC may have already spread to the brain, even when there are no symptoms or other signs of cancer in the brain. As a result, radiation therapy to the brain may be given to some patients with smaller cancers, or to those who had a good response in the first round of chemotherapy. This method is called prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI).

Support Groups

For additional information and resources, see cancer support group.

Expectations (prognosis)

How well you do depends on how much the lung cancer has spread.

Without treatment, the average survival is 2 -4 months. Treatment can often prolong life to 6 - 12 months in patients with extensive disease. About 10% of patients with limited spread will show no evidence of cancer at 2 years.

This type of cancer is very deadly. Only about 6% of people with this type of cancer are still alive 5 years after diagnosis.

Complications

• Cancer spreads to other parts of the body
• Side effects of surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy

Calling your health care provider

Call your health care provider if you have symptoms of lung cancer (particularly if you smoke).

Prevention

If you smoke, stop smoking. It's never too late to quit. In addition, you should try to avoid secondhand smoke.

Routine screening for lung cancer is not recommended. Many studies have been done to look at this idea, but physicians have concluded that, at this time, screening would not help improve a person's chance for a cure.