Our Treatment Approach
Timely Appointments
Patients with either suspected or proven lung cancer should be seen as soon as possible for timely diagnosis and treatment.
Our new patient coordinators will work with you quickly to schedule appointments with our specialists.
Phone: 877-442-3324
Online: Complete the appointment request form
Treatment for small cell lung cancer is provided through the Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology at Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center and the Division of Thoracic Surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Our team of medical, surgical, and radiation oncologists, pathologists, and radiologists — all specialized lung cancer experts — work together to determine the right choices for your individual treatment. Treatment may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or any combination of all three. You will also have access to an array of support programs and services.
Collaboration is the key to success. Our surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, radiologists and pathologists are lung cancer experts working together in a unique, collaborative model that focuses exclusively on the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. Our staff members meet daily as a group to evaluate the most effective options for each patient.
Because it is often asymptomatic, small cell lung cancer is rarely discovered in its earliest stages, and so it is unlikely that removal of tumors will have a significant impact on the progress of your cancer. Instead of surgery, our clinicians usually recommend chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy — treatments which have the potential to target cancer cells throughout your body.
However, there are occasional early small cell lung cancers that are addressed best by surgery, followed by chemotherapy and radiation therapy. With the increasing prevalence of CT-based screening, we have seen a rise in the number of early small cell cancers that respond well to surgery.
Depending on the stage of the disease, here are ways we treat small cell lung cancer:
- In very early limited stage disease, we often treat patients with minimally invasive surgery, followed by chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
- In limited stage disease, we generally treat patients with a combination of chemotherapy and chest radiation therapy.
- In extensive stage disease, treatment is with chemotherapy alone. This is because radiation therapy targets just one area of the body, and would thus be ineffective in treating cancer that has spread throughout the body. In extensive small cell lung cancer, chemotherapy is used to reduce or stabilize the cancer in the hopes of extending as well as improving the quality of life.
- Whether small cell lung cancer is limited or extensive, it can potentially spread to the brain. Your treatment may include therapies to prevent this possibility.
Medical Oncology and Chemotherapy
Medical oncologists administer chemotherapy, a cancer treatment that uses drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Our oncologists use their extensive expertise to determine the right care plan for each patient. In the case of limited small cell lung cancer, chemotherapy will be part of a therapeutic plan aimed at controlling and potentially curing the disease. In the case of extensive small cell lung cancer, chemotherapy may extend life while reducing pain or symptoms.
Chemotherapy treatment for small cell lung cancer involves infusion through a tube. The choice of specific drugs to be administered will be based on your individual needs.
- At the first meeting, we address difficult symptoms you may be experiencing including pain, shortness of breath, and emotional distress. We also will arrange meetings with our extensive support services staff including palliative care, nutrition, and social work services.
- We provide efficient and rapid processes to begin treatment as soon as possible through coordination of diagnostic testing, evaluation, and diagnosis with the entire team.
- We have experience with the latest therapies and have the expertise to tailor these therapies to each patient for the greatest likelihood of success.