At the time of diagnosis, about one-third of patients with small cell lung carcinoma will have limited-stage disease. Most people who survive at least two years without a recurrence of the cancer come from this group. In limited disease, average survival of 10 to 16 months is a reasonable expectation with current treatments. The small proportion of patients with limited disease who can undergo surgery have an even better prognosis .
With extensive-stage disease, the prognosis is worse. Average survival is 6 to 12 months with current treatments. There is long-term disease-free survival in some patients, so treatment is certainly recommended. Patients who achieve a complete response to treatment (the tumor appears to go away completely) have the best overall survival.
In small cell lung cancer, 10 to 20 percent of patients may achieve long-term remissions with aggressive combined radiation and chemotherapy . Most of the improvement in survival has been the result of treatments discovered by clinical trials .
Surgery Removing the primary tumor produces little benefit with this type of cancer, although a
very small number of patients might possibly benefit from surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy . This is an option only for those whose lung function is adequate and whose tumor is confined to the lung where it started or to the lung and the hilar lymph nodes on the same side.
