New therapies in small cell lung cancer: A narrative review

Abstract

Lung cancer overall is the second most common malignancy in both men and women in the United States and remains the leading cause of cancer death. Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for approximately 10–15% of all cases. Chemotherapy with a platinum agent and etoposide remains the standard of care for limited-stage patients. In the past few years, several clinical trials have evaluated the efficacy of immunotherapy, when added to conventional chemotherapy, in extensive-stage patients, and two anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibodies, atezolizumab and durvalumab, have already been approved by the USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in this setting. Moreover, numerous other new agents are currently being investigated while new molecular features of SCLC subtypes come to light. Further analysis of predictive biomarkers needs to be done as well as evaluation of immune checkpoint inhibitors in early-stage disease.

Keywords

• sclc
• treatment
• immunotherapy
• chemotherapy