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Updated: May 11, 2026
Ultra-Fast Amplicon-Based Next-Generation Sequencing in Non-Squamous Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Published on: September 8, 2023
New dilemmas in small-cell lung cancer TNM clinical staging
Konstantinos Zarogoulidis1, Dimitrios Latsios, Konstantinos Porpodis
1Pulmonary Department-Oncology Unit, "G Papanikolaou" General Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Background:
Many patients with limited disease (LD) behave similarly to those with extensive disease (ED) from a prognostic point of view. On the other hand, a proportion of patients with ED small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) behave similarly to those with LD.
Patients And Methods:
In this retrospective study analysis, 764 patients with proven SCLC were included and managed with the same therapeutic protocols. Of these patients, 278 (36.4%) had LD, while 486 (63.6%) had ED.
Results:
No statistically significant difference was observed for survival for IA and IB disease stages (P = 0.254) and between IIA and IIB stages (P = 0.256) according to the new tumor, node, metastasis (TNM) staging classification classification. In addition, no statistical significant difference was observed for survival between patients with (IIA + IIB) and IIIA (P = 0.951), (IIA + IIIA, P = 0.658), and (IIB + IIIA, P = 0.573) stages. Statistical significant difference was observed for survival among the LD SCLC patients with (IA + IB), (IIA + IIB + IIIA), and IIIB stages (P < 0.001). Similarly, statistical significance was observed for ED SCLC patients with (IIA + IIB + IIIA), IIIB, and IV stages (P < 0.001).
Conclusions:
Although stratification of SCLC patients in LD and ED is generally satisfactory, the TNM staging system is recommended for more detailed prognostic information and treatment evaluation in these patients.