Nihon Kyōbu Shikkan Gakkai zasshi
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Nihon Kyobu Shikkan Gakkai Zasshi · Dec 1990
[Patterns of relapse in patients with small cell lung cancer--the effect of chest irradiation and prophylactic cranial irradiation combined with intensive chemotherapy on long-term survival].
The pattern of relapse was analyzed in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Of 180 patients treated with intensive combination chemotherapy between 1976 and 1987, 75 achieved complete response (CR). Of 47 patients with limited disease (LD), 20 (43%) initially relapsed in the chest and 7 (15%) in the brain. ⋯ The median survival time and 5-year survival rate of patients who received PCI were 23.1 months and 26.7%, which these figures were only 14.0 months and 8.3% for those who had not respectively. Analysis using Cox's proportional hazard model showed that PCI was the greatest prognostic factor favoring the SCLC patients achieving CR. These results indicate that chest irradiation and PCI in conjunction with intensive combination chemotherapy are effective for cases of SCLC with CR.