Treatment for small cell lung cancer

Small cell lung cancer is actually a common type of lung cancer. Different treatment plans should be adopted according to the stage of the disease. Patients with lung cancer should not think that treatment is ineffective. For patients who receive early treatment, the treatment effect is very high.

Surgery for small cell lung cancer

It is generally believed that all patients diagnosed with lung cancer by histology, cytology or clinical diagnosis, as long as the disease is before stage II and there are no absolute contraindications, can be listed as candidates for surgery. However, due to the high malignancy and early metastasis of small cell carcinoma, it is generally considered not suitable for surgical treatment. Some people also suggest that radical surgical treatment should be used for young people with primary lung cancer discovered in the early stages.

Chemotherapy for small cell lung cancer

The main method for treating small cell lung cancer is chemotherapy. The efficacy of chemotherapy mostly appears within 12 weeks after the start of treatment, and further increase in efficacy is rarely seen thereafter. Generally speaking, the use of moderately intensive chemotherapy is better than conventional dose chemotherapy; however, the use of high-dose intensive treatment does not further improve the efficacy, but instead causes more patients to require hospitalization. There are different opinions on whether the best treatment for localized small cell lung cancer should be combined chemotherapy plus thoracic radiotherapy. There is currently no consensus on the optimal duration of radiotherapy in combined chemotherapy-radiotherapy treatment.

Studies have shown that the use of combination chemotherapy regimens composed of chemotherapy drugs that are effective for small cell lung cancer has achieved better efficacy and survival rates than single-drug chemotherapy. In recent years, many units have used bronchial artery angiography and infusion chemotherapy to treat small cell lung cancer, and it is generally reported to be effective with minimal side effects.