Small Cell Lung Carcinoma: An Updated Review

Author(s): Ramen Kalita*, Chhohan Das and Biprojit Paul

Abstract: Small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) is a progressive deadly disease around the world. SCLC is a “small blue round cell tumor” originated from euroendocrine cells. Small cell lung carcinoma accounts for about 15 percent of lung cancers. SCLC progress rapidly from larger airways (bronchi) of the lungs and often to the brain. It initially responds well to chemotherapy but unfortunately recurrance may occur after initial treatment and become more resistant to subsequent chemotherapy treatment. They are divided into only two stages, limited and extensive stage small cell lung cancer. SCLC is found most often in people with a history of tobacco use particularly smoking. SCLC is hallmarked by different abnormalities of many tumor suppressor genes. TP53 is mutated in 70-90% of SCLC cases. Similarly, the malignant tumor (Rb) cistron product is absent in a very overwhelming majority of cases. However, the overall cure and survival rates for SCLC remain low, particularly in metastatic disease. Therefore, continued research for the development of new drugs and combination therapies is required to expand the clinical benefit to a wider patient population and to improve outcome in SCLC.

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