Alternative Names
Cancer – lung – small cell; Small cell lung cancer; SCLC
Definition of Lung cancer – small cell
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a fast-growing type of lung cancer. It spreads much more quickly than .
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
About 15% of all lung cancer cases are small cell lung cancer. Small cell lung cancer is slightly more common in men than women.
Signs and tests
Your health care provider will perform a physical exam and ask questions about your medical history. You will be asked whether you smoke, and if so, how much and for how long you have smoked.
Treatment
Because SCLC spreads quickly throughout the body, treatment must include cancer-killing drugs (chemotherapy) taken by mouth or injected into the body. Usually, the chemotherapy drug etoposide is combined with either cisplatin or carboplatin.
Expectations (prognosis)
How well you do depends on how much the lung cancer has spread. This type of cancer is very deadly. Only about 6% of people with this type of cancer are still alive 5 years after diagnosis.
Review
David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc., and Yi-Bin Chen, MD, Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital. – 9/26/2010
