Published in:
01-06-2012 | Editorial Commentary
FDG PET/CT metabolic tumour volume in small-cell lung cancer: better staging and prognostic stratification for an improved therapeutic strategy
Author:
Giovanni Luca Ceresoli
Published in:
European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
|
Issue 6/2012
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Excerpt
Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) represents 15–20% of all diagnosed cases of lung cancer. It is characterized by distinct clinical features, such as rapid tumour growth, predominantly central and bulky location in the chest, and early dissemination to locoregional lymph nodes and to distant metastatic sites [
1]. Despite the high initial response rates to chemotherapy and the high sensitivity to radiotherapy (RT), SCLC recurs in most patients, and prognosis remains generally poor. About two-thirds of patients present with overt metastatic disease, and for these patients combined chemotherapy is the cornerstone of treatment. Unfortunately, no curative option is available, and median survival is less than 1 year [
2,
3]. For the minority of patients with limited intrathoracic disease at diagnosis, chemotherapy combined with thoracic RT is the standard approach, with a definite chance of cure in about 20–25% of patients [
4]. In both limited and metastatic disease with a major response to chemotherapy, prophylactic cranial irradiation has been shown to reduce the rate of brain recurrence and to prolong survival [
5,
6]. …
