Role of Radiation Therapy in Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC): Analysis of SEER-17 Data

Abstract

Radiation therapy is a mainstay local treatment for patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Meta-analysis showed that the addition of thoracic radio-therapy (TRT) has significantly improved survival for patients with limited-stage SCLC. TRT is also a commonly used palliative approach for patients with extensive-stage SCLC. However, current data on SCLC is largely based on the Veteran’s Administration Lung Group (VALG) 2-stage classification system, which was first introduced in the 1950s . A new lung cancer TNM staging system developed by IASLC and adopted by AJCC (7th edition) in 2010, is also applicable to SCLC.