LONG-TERM SURVIVORS WITH SMALL CELL-CARCINOMA OF THE LUNG

A retrospective study was done of all patients who survived 2 yr or more with small cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung. The study period was 1970-1978; patients with local or metastatic disease were included. Pathology review documented 17 patients with an unequivocal diagnosis of SCC surviving 2 yr or more. The important conclusions are as follows: local treatment (surgery or radiation therapy) was an important part of therapy for long term survival, local tumor control in the lung was superior in those patients treated with surgery or high dose lung irradiation (> 4800 rad) compared to patients treated with low dose lung irradiation (< 3500 rad), and of the patients who were without evidence of disease at 2 yr, 33% eventually relapsed, implying that even a 2 yr follow-up is inadequate to fully assess treatment efficacy.