ABSTRACT
The management of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has been the subject of several reviews over the past year,1-4 and a number of investigators have also published the results of population or single-institution based analyses of the treatment of SCLC, including long-term results. Murray et al5 report on a population-based outcome for SCLC in British Columbia, Canada with a population of 3.7 million people. The Cancer Registry in British Columbia was used to identify all cases of SCLC in two years: 331 cases in 1990 and 297 cases in 1995. No comparison between survival data of the two categories is given, but overall 2-year survival is 11.4% and 4-year survival 4.7%. Only 71% of the entire patient population were amenable to standard treatment policies. Eleven percent were terminally ill at diagnosis and 20% did not receive chemotherapy for other reasons. Only 22% were treated with combined modality therapy with curative intent.
