TY - JOUR
T1 - Small cell lung cancer
T2 - Are we making progress?
AU - Dowell, Jonathan E.
PY - 2010/1
Y1 - 2010/1
N2 - Although the incidence of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has declined during the past 30 years, it remains a significant cause of cancer mortality in the United States and across the world. With appropriate treatment, about 20% of patients who present with limited stage SCLC can be cured of their disease. Unfortunately, the outcome for the remainder of patients is extremely poor. The only significant advance in extensive stage SCLC in the past 2 decades is the recent discovery that prophylactic cranial irradiation improves survival in those patients whose disease has responded to initial chemotherapy. Numerous attempts to enhance the antitumor effects of traditional chemotherapy for SCLC have not been successful. As the understanding of the biology of SCLC increased, a number of rational molecular targets for therapy have been identified. Although initial attempts at "targeted therapy" in SCLC have been unsuccessful, several newly identified targets hold promise and give hope that significant improvements in therapy for this challenging disease are not far away.
AB - Although the incidence of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has declined during the past 30 years, it remains a significant cause of cancer mortality in the United States and across the world. With appropriate treatment, about 20% of patients who present with limited stage SCLC can be cured of their disease. Unfortunately, the outcome for the remainder of patients is extremely poor. The only significant advance in extensive stage SCLC in the past 2 decades is the recent discovery that prophylactic cranial irradiation improves survival in those patients whose disease has responded to initial chemotherapy. Numerous attempts to enhance the antitumor effects of traditional chemotherapy for SCLC have not been successful. As the understanding of the biology of SCLC increased, a number of rational molecular targets for therapy have been identified. Although initial attempts at "targeted therapy" in SCLC have been unsuccessful, several newly identified targets hold promise and give hope that significant improvements in therapy for this challenging disease are not far away.
KW - Chemotherapy
KW - Radiation therapy
KW - Small cell lung cancer
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U2 - 10.1097/MAJ.0b013e3181bccef5
DO - 10.1097/MAJ.0b013e3181bccef5
M3 - Article
C2 - 19996730
AN - SCOPUS:75449114226
SN - 0002-9629
VL - 339
SP - 68
EP - 76
JO - American Journal of the Medical Sciences
JF - American Journal of the Medical Sciences
IS - 1
ER -