• Roxana-Andreea Rahnea-Nita, Radu-Valeriu Toma, Valentin Titus Grigorean, Ionuţ Simion Coman, Violeta Elena Coman, Iancu Emil Pleşea, Anwar Erchid, Gabriel-Petre Gorecki, and Gabriela Rahnea-Nita.
• 8th Clinical Department-Radiology, Oncology and Hematology, Faculty of Medicine, "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Phamacy, 020021 Bucharest, Romania.
• Medicina (Kaunas). 2024 Jul 28; 60 (8).

AbstractIntroduction: Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive form of cancer with a poor prognosis. The two-year survival rate is 8% of all cases. Case presentation: We present the case of a male patient who was 50 years old at the time of diagnosis in May 2022. He was diagnosed with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer, treated with immunotherapy in combination with chemotherapy (Durvalumab in combination with Etoposide plus Carboplatin) as a first-line treatment, followed by maintenance immunotherapy. In December 2023, a PET-CT scan revealed progressive disease with multiple metastases. Chemotherapy was reinitiated with Etoposide plus Cisplatin in January 2024. After two cycles of chemotherapy, the patient developed post-chemotherapy anemia, for which treatment with Epoetinum alpha was initiated. Chemotherapy was continued for another five cycles, until May 2024, with the maintenance of hemoglobin at a level within 9.9 mg/dL-11 mg/dL. Upon assessment at the end of May 2024, the patient presented an ECOG = 2 performance status, with a moderate general state, moderate-intensity fatigue, no pain, no anxiety or depression and no dyspnea. Discussions, Literature Review and Conclusions: Reinitiating chemotherapy after the failure of maintenance immunotherapy may be an option in patients with SCLC. Epoetinum allows oncological treatment by preventing chemotherapy-induced anemia.

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