Dr. Nasser Hanna, Indiana University Health, addresses the issue of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) in locally advanced NSCLC.

Dr. Mark Socinski, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, defines the three compartments in stage III (locally advanced) NSCLC, each of which must be treated.

Drs. Ben Solomon, Leora Horn, & Jack West discuss whether the data highlighting cognitive deficits from whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) for patients with brain metastases should change our recommendations for prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI).

Why radiate a perfectly good brain? Dr. Vivek Mehta, radiation oncologist, discusses the possible role for prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) for extensive stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) to decrease risk of brain metastases and improve survival.

Radiation to the brain is a component of our treatment of limited stage small cell lung cancer, even with no evidence of cancer there. Dr. Vivek Mehta, radiation oncologist, reviews why we would do such a thing.

The doctors discuss the circumstances under which small cell lung cancer patients should receive prophylactic cranial irradiation.

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Every year, many of the most important developments in cancer care are presented at ASCO. This year, we've got what I think is a very important year in lung cancer, with several practice-changing results/.

This is the second of two parts in the Reference Library by Dr. Gadgeel on small cell lung cancer.

Patients with Limited Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer

Here is the last case I discussed several months ago with Dr. Nasser Hanna, lung cancer expert at Indiana University. After two cases that included never or light former smokers, which he joked that I saw far more of than he did, we changed direction to cover current issues in managing extensive stage small cell lung cancer, a field in which he's been a leader.

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In my last few weeks as a GRACE guest faculty, I have been struck by the number of forum discussions that deal with brain metastases. Brain metastases are a growing problem in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as well as in multiple other cancers. Why is this? Twenty years ago, patients who developed brain metastases were usually at the end-stage of their cancer, with widely metastatic disease and few systemic treatment options. The prognosis for these patients was very poor, but not really because of the brain metastases.