Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
Am Soc Clin Oncol Educ Book. 2024 Jun;44(3):e432520. doi: 10.1200/EDBK_432520.
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an uncommon, aggressive high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma, associated with tobacco use. It is a highly chemosensitive disease that initially responds quickly to systemic therapy, although patients with SCLC tend to develop relapse. Although the landscape of SCLC treatment has remained stagnant for many decades, the field has seen notable advances in the past few years, including the use of immunotherapy, the development of further lines of systemic therapy, the refinement of thoracic and intracranial radiotherapy, and-most recently-the promise of more targeted therapies. Patients with SCLC also must face unique psychosocial burdens in their experience with their cancer, distinct from patients with other lung cancer. In this article, we review the latest literature and future directions in the management and investigation of SCLC, as well as the critical decisions that providers and patients must navigate in the current landscape. We also present the perspectives of several patients with SCLC in conjunction with this summary, to spotlight their individual journeys in the context of this challenging disease.
小细胞肺癌（SCLC）是一种罕见的侵袭性高级神经内分泌癌，与吸烟有关。它是一种高度化疗敏感的疾病，尽管 SCLC 患者往往会复发，但初始对全身治疗反应迅速。尽管 SCLC 的治疗领域几十年来一直停滞不前，但近年来在该领域取得了显著进展，包括免疫治疗的应用、进一步的全身治疗方案的开发、胸部和颅内放疗的精细化，以及最近靶向治疗的潜力。SCLC 患者在癌症治疗过程中还必须面对独特的心理社会负担，与其他肺癌患者不同。在本文中，我们回顾了 SCLC 的最新文献和未来的管理和研究方向，以及在当前环境下提供者和患者必须做出的关键决策。我们还结合这篇总结，介绍了几位 SCLC 患者的观点，以突出他们在这种具有挑战性的疾病背景下的个人经历。
