Chemotherapy dose intensity in small cell lung cancer.

The evidence that increasing the dose intensity of chemotherapy in SCLC improves survival is reviewed. The paucity of randomized trials, the failure to report delivered dose and the methodological problems in presenting dose intensity data, mean that at present no firm conclusions can be drawn about potential survival benefit with increasing intensity of treatment. It seems possible that increases in survival can be obtained with increased intensity of chemotherapy but the degree is likely to be small and the size of randomised trials must therefore be large.