Can BCL-2 inhibitors make progress in SCLC?

   The development of targeted therapy drugs has improved survival for patients with NSCLC, and the “pipeline” of agents in development awaiting further testing in clinical trials seems to be increasing by the day.  The improvements in survival in particular subpopulations of patients with NSCLC inspires both patients and physicians who treat lung cancer to [...]

Talk with Patients: Relapsed SCLC and Amrubicin

A few weeks ago, I gave a talk at a Seattle non-profit called Cancer Lifeline, at which I described some of the highlights of current lung cancer treatment and the direction of ongoing research.   I recorded that lecture (which does include some stray sounds in the background), and I thought it would be helpful to [...]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Interview with Dr. Toni Wozniak, Covering SCLC Basics

  I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Toni Wozniak, Moedical Oncologist and lung cancer expert at the Barbara A. Karmanos Cancer Center at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI.  We covered several topics, including SCLC, the subject of this podcast. It is an audio interview but includes a few figures that [...]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Carboplatin/Irinotecan Combination for SCLC: A Phase II Study

    Several years ago, I participated in a clinical trial with a combination of carboplatin and irinotecan for treatment of extensive SCLC, just now being published (abstract here).   As a bit of background about the potential utility of irinotecan, the well established cornerstone of treatment of extensive SCLC for about two decades has been a [...]

mTOR Inhibitors for Small Cell Lung Cancer

  We’ve covered the modest activity of a few mTOR inhibitors in NSCLC (see prior post), so now we’ll turn to SCLC.  Everolimus, an oral mTOR inhibitor, has been studied at 10 mg by mouth daily in patients with relapsed SCLC and had received 1 or 2 prior regimens and no brain metastases (abstract here).  The [...]

What I Really Do: Relapsed SCLC

   The treatment of relapsed SCLC isn’t especially controversial, because this is an area where there aren’t enough breakthroughs.  In someone fit enough to perform their own activities of daily living and getting out of the house, the main question is how long it has been since they completed their first line treatment.  Although some [...]

What I Really Do: Extensive Disease Small Cell Lung Cancer (ED-SCLC)

   I go to many meetings in which cases are presented and medical oncologists provide their repsonses about how they’d be inclined to treat a patient.  Although we bemoan the lack of much progress in managing small cell lung cancer, one of the effects of that is that there is pretty strong uniformity in how [...]

SCLC with Pleural Effusions: Is there Benefit to Adding Radiation?

   In my earliest introductory post about SCLC, I described the typical staging breakdown used clinically, which is essentially divided into limited disease SCLC (LD-SCLC), which is typically treated with chemo and chest radiation together, with curative intent, and extensive disease SCLC (ED-SCLC), which is typically treated with chemo alone and is not considered conventionally curable.  But [...]

Consolidation Radiation to Residual Chest Disease After Chemo for Extensive SCLC?

   Here’s a situation in which I learned something from the questions raised by people here online.   A handful of people with extensive disease small cell lung cancer (ED-SCLC) in the last year or two have mentioned receiving radiation for areas of residual apparent disease after receiving initial chemotherapy.  I had noted that I had never [...]

Surgery for Small Cell Lung Cancer?

   One topic that is rarely considered in the management of SCLC is the role of surgery.  The main reason is that the vast majority of patients presenting with SCLC either have extensive disease that has spread throughout the body (2/3 of SCLC presentations) or at least already have rather bulky nodal disease that would [...]