[Treatment strategy for neuroendocrine carcinoma of the lung]

Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the lung is classified into typical carcinoid (TC), atypical carcinoid (ATC), large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) and small cell carcinoma (SCLC). The standard treatment of carcinoid tumor is surgical resection. There is no standard therapy for LCNEC. Generally, the treatment of LCNEC is surgical resection and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in stage I and II, concurrent chemo-radiotherapy in stage III, and combination chemotherapy in stage IV. The treatment of SCLC is mainly combination chemotherapy. Standard therapy of SCLC is concurrent chemo-radiotherapy in limited disease and combination chemotherapy in extensive disease. Combination chemotherapy with cisplatin and etoposide is administered for limited disease, and cisplatin and irinotecan is administered for extensive disease. The surgical indication for SCLC is only stage I patients. Adjuvant chemotherapy is needed postoperatively.