Treatment of Limited-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer

Treatment of limited-stage small cell lung cancer may include the following:

• combination chemotherapy and radiation therapy to the chest, with radiation therapy to the brain given later to patients with complete responses
• combination chemotherapy alone for patients who cannot be given radiation therapy
• surgery followed by chemotherapy
• surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiation therapy
• radiation therapy to the brain may be given to patients who have had a complete response, to prevent the spread of cancer to the brain
• clinical trials including new drug therapies, surgical approaches, 3-dimensional radiation therapy, and dose fractionation (dividing a total dose of radiation into separate doses)

To learn more about these treatments, see the Treatment Option Overview.

Use our clinical trial search to find NCI-supported cancer clinical trials that are accepting patients. You can search for trials based on the type of cancer, the age of the patient, and where the trials are being done. General information about clinical trials is also available.