ABSTRACT
A short summary of the management of small cell lung cancer (SCLC), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and mesothelioma is given in this chapter based on the evidence from randomized trials, even though it should be realized that patients included in clinical trials are not representative of the patient population as a whole. Additional information on the management of lung cancer can be found in recent review articles. 1-8
SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER
Limited disease Surgical resection, followed by postoperative chemotherapy, is the treatment of choice for the rare patient who presents with stage I or II disease. The results for SCLC are equivalent to the treatment of stage I and II NSCLC. For the more typical SCLC patient who presents with bulky limited disease, combination chemotherapy is the mainstay of treatment, in conjunction with radiotherapy. For chemotherapy, the combination of etoposide and cisplatin (EP) has become the most commonly recommended regimen. The combination of carboplatin and etoposide produces similar results to cisplatin and etoposide, and has a more favorable toxicity profile. Maintenance chemotherapy does not result in any substantial improvement in survival.
