Diagnosis and Treatment of Small Cell Lung Cancer

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC), is an uncommon form of lung cancer that is fast growing and tends to spread more quickly than non-small cell lung cancer. SCLC is a neuroendocrine cancer, meaning that the cancer cells secrete hormones.

Stanford Expertise

A Personalized, Team Approach
At Stanford Cancer Center we take a multidisciplinary approach to cancers of the lung and pleura through the Thoracic Oncology Program. Physicians from a variety of specialties are involved in patient evaluation, diagnosis, and therapy. Our treatment team includes faculty physicians from surgery, radiation oncology, radiology, pathology, medical oncology, and pulmonary medicine.

The Multidisciplinary Thoracic Tumor Board meets weekly to evaluate newly diagnosed patients with a team approach. By having your personalized treatment plan developed by experts from each different field, you can be assured that all possible treatment approaches have been considered and the one that is best for you is put into place.

The Best Technology
At the Cancer Center, our physicians are some of the leaders in their fields and have access to the most advanced technologies available to provide for your care. Our programs and expertise can be outlined as follows:

Diagnosis
Small cell lung cancer is most treatable at the earliest stages of disease, and because it is so fast growing tends to be very sensitive to chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

Physicians at the Cancer Center actively research the best methods for diagnosing SCLC, and have the most advance technology available for making diagnoses, including:

• PET-FDG imaging, a technology that combines positron emission tomography with a special form of glucose that increases scan accuracy and improves the diagnosis of SCLC.
  
  
• Spiral CT screening for lung cancer, one of the most advanced computer-aided diagnostic systems to assist in screening for abnormalities.
  
  
• Expertise in CT-directed biopsy to ensure that biopsies contain the cells that will yield the most accurate analysis.
  
  
• PET (positron emission tomography) imaging, both investigational and for staging of lung cancer to ensure that you receive the most appropriate treatment.
  
  
• Fine Needle Aspirate Team -- specialized pathologists skilled in making a diagnosis from a tiny number of cells or tissue obtained by less invasive fine-needle aspiration.

Treatment

• Radiofrequency ablation, an advanced, minimally invasive procedure that uses a heat-generating, electrode-tipped catheter to destroy tumor cells. 
  
  
• CyberKnife, an advanced stereotactic radiosurgery device that uses computer technology to deliver radiation therapy with unprecedented precision.
  
  
• Photodynamic therapy program with laser for removing obstructing lesions. 
  
  
• Intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) that allows doctors to deliver a high dose of radiation to the tumor site while a patient is still in the operating room during surgery. One-time IORT is more convenient than traditional radiotherapy and reduces the exposure of healthy tissues to radiation.
  
  
• Intensity modulated radiation (IMRT) that reduces the dose of radiation received by healthy tissue, and can allow doctors to deliver radiation to difficult-to-reach areas.
  
  
• Brachytherapy -- the placement of radioactive materials at the tumor site to deliver more targeted radiation therapy and make treatment more convenient.
  
  
• Bronchial stenting that opens up airways and makes breathing easier.
  

Advanced Experimental Therapy
Despite current advanced technologies, SCLC is still a difficult-to-treat aggressive cancer. Stanford researchers and physicians are actively involved in developing new and better treatments for this disease, and where appropriate can offer patients access to experimental therapies through clinical trials.

A complete list of clinical trials of chemotherapy, radiation, and new surgical techniques for patients with advanced lung disease is available at the clinical trials database.