Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zöchbauer-Müller, S.
Right arrow Articles by Huber, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Zöchbauer-Müller, S.
Right arrow Articles by Huber, H.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Annals of Oncology 10:S83-S91, 1999
© 1999 European Society for Medical Oncology

Reviews

Treatment of small cell lung cancer patients

S. Zöchbauer-Müller, R. Pirker and H. Huber

Division of Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine 1, University of Vienna Vienna, Austria

Correspondence to: Heinz Huber, MD Professsor of Oncology and Head, Division of Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine I, University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20 A-1090 Vienna Austria e-mail: heinz.huber{at}akh-wien.ac.at

Small cell lung cancers, comprising approximately 20% of lung cancers, are rapidly growing and disseminating carcinomas which are initially chemosensitive but acquire drug resistance during the course of disease. Thus, outcome is poor with median survival of 10–16 months for patients with limited and 7–11 months for patients with extensive disease. Polychemotherapy with established drugs (platins, etoposide, anthracyclines, cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide and Vinca alkaloids) plays the major role in the treatment of this disease and results in overall response rates between 80%–95% for limited disease and 60%–80% for extensive disease. Dose-intensified chemotherapy and high-dose chemotherapy with peripheral blood progenitor cell support were tested in several trials but their exact impact on outcome remains to be determined. New drugs including the taxanes (paclitaxel, docetaxel), the topoisomerase I inhibitors (topotecan, irinotecan), vinorelbine and gemcitabine are currently evaluated in clinical trials. In limited disease, thoracic radiotherapy improves survival and prophylactic cranial irradiation should be administered to those with a reasonable chance of cure.

chemotherapy, new drugs, radiotherapy, small cell lung cancer


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.