Limited stage (LS) SCLC is most often treated a combination of two or more chemotherapy drugs. These will be etoposide combined with either cisplatin or carboplatin, usually taken for approximately six months. Sometimes radiation therapy is used as well.
Brain radiation is often used as a preventive measure as this cancer metastasizes to the brain in 50% of the cases.
This is considered to be an aggressive treatment and very physically demanding. Patients who are unable to walk at least 50% of the time and do not have good function of the kidney, liver, heart and lung are usually not able to tolerate it.
Extensive care (ES) NSCLC treatment consists of chemotherapy treatments to treat symptoms and prolong life. The same drugs are used as in the limited stage cancer, but sometimes a second type of chemotherapy is prescribed. These medications include cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, ifosfamide, toptecan, paclitaxel, methotrexate, vinorelbine, gemcitabine, irinotecan, and docetaxel in various combinations.
Sometimes radiation therapy is given to control the growth within the lung or the spread to other areas like the bones or brain.
Prognosis
(The following information is from the National Cancer Institute’s Physician Data Query System, July 2002)
Non-small cell lung cancer (Five year survival with treatment)
Occult Stage 75-85% positive cytology but no evidence of primary tumor or lymph node involvement
Stage 0 (too few cases to evaluate)
Stage I 54%
Stage II 35%
Stage IIIA 10-15% lymph nodes involved on same side (ipsilateral) as primary
Stage IIIB < 5% contra lateral lymph nodes involved
Stage IV < 2%
Small cell lung cancer (Two year disease-free survival with treatment)
Limited stage 25-30% (roughly equal to Stage I and II)Extensive stage 0-2% (roughly equal to Stage III and IV)