[Multimodality therapy for small-cell lung cancer]

In limited small-cell lung cancer, combined chemoradiotherapy is superior to chemotherapy alone. Early thoracic radiotherapy (TRT) yields superior rates of long-term survival than delayed TRT. Concurrent use of TRT with cisplatin and etoposide may be optimal and has been considered the standard in North America and Japan. The use of multimodality therapy in LD-SCLC appears to have substantially improved median (> 20 mos) and 3-year survival rates (> 40%). The development of more effective local and systemic therapy is necessary for cure-oriented treatment.