Chemotherapy

Small-cell lung cancer is treated primarily with chemotherapy, as surgery has no demonstrable influence on survival. Primary chemotherapy is also given in metastatic NSCLC.

The combination regimen depends on the tumour type:

* NSCLC: cisplatin or carboplatin, in combination with gemcitabine, paclitaxel, docetaxel, etoposide or vinorelbine. In metastatic lung cancer, the addition of bevacizumab when added to carboplatin and paclitaxel was found to improve survival (though in this study, patients with squamous cell lung cancer were excluded because of problems with pulmonary hemorrhage in this group in the past).
* SCLC: cisplatin or carboplatin, in combination etoposide or ifosfamide; combinations with gemcitabine, paclitaxel, vinorelbine, topotecan and irinotecan are being studied