On February 12, 2021, the FDA approved trilaciclib (brand name Cosela) as a treatment to reduce the frequency of chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression for patients receiving certain types of chemotherapy for extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer. Prognosis
5-year survival rates for small cell lung cancer (extensive and limited) range between 3.6% and 32.2% for women, and between 2.2% and 24.5% for men. Relative 5-year survival rate for both sexes has increased from 3.6% in 1975 to 6.7% in 2014.Small-cell carcinoma is very responsive to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and in particular, regimens based on platinum-containing agents. However, most people with the disease relapse and median survival remains low. The overall incidence and mortality rates of SCLC in the United States have decreased during the past few decades. In limited-stage disease, relative 5-year survival rate (both sexes, all races, all ages) is 21.3%; however, women have higher 5-year survival rates, 26.9%, and men have lower survival rates, 21.3%.The prognosis is far grimmer in extensive-stage small-cell lung carcinoma where 5-year relative survival rate (both sexes, all races, all ages) is 2.8%; however, women have higher 5-year survival rates, 3.4%, and men have lower 5-year survival rates, 2.2%.Long-term survival of more than 5 years can be achieved with proper treatment. According to the 17th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC), "patients who received chest radiation and prophylactic cranial irradiation along with a mean of five chemotherapy cycles could achieve a median survival of more than 5 years. "In some cases, long-term survival of 10+ years is achieved with chemotherapy and radiation alone.
LS-SCLC
In cases of LS-SCLC, combination chemotherapy (usually cisplatin or carboplatin plus etoposide) is administered together with concurrent chest radiotherapy (RT).Chest RT has been shown to improve survival in LS-SCLC.Exceptionally high objective initial response rates (RR) of between 60% and 90% are seen in LS-SCLC using chemotherapy alone, with between 45% and 75% of individuals showing a "complete response" (CR), which is defined as the disappearance of all radiological and clinical signs of tumor. However, relapse rate remains high, and median survival is only 18 to 24 months.Because SCLC usually metastasizes widely very early on in the natural history of the tumor, and because nearly all cases respond dramatically to chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, there has been little role for surgery in this disease since the 1970s. However, recent work suggests that in cases of small, asymptomatic, node-negative SCLCs ("very limited stage"), surgical excision may improve survival when used prior to chemotherapy ("adjuvant chemotherapy"). ES-SCLC
In ES-SCLC, platinum-based combination chemotherapy is the standard of care, with radiotherapy added only to palliate symptoms such as dyspnea, pain from liver or bone metastases, or for treatment of brain metastases, which, in small-cell lung carcinoma, typically have a rapid, if temporary, response to whole brain radiotherapy.Combination chemotherapy consists of a wide variety of agents, including cisplatin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine and carboplatin. Response rates are high even in extensive disease, with between 15% and 30% of subjects having a complete response to combination chemotherapy, and the vast majority having at least some objective response.