Prophylactic Cranial Irradiation for Patients with Small-Cell Lung Cancer in Complete Remission

In patients with limited small-cell lung cancer, chemotherapy combined with thoracic radiotherapy yields complete response rates of 50 to 85 percent, a median duration of survival of 12 to 20 months, and 2-year disease-free survival rates of 15 to 40 percent. 1 – 3 Five-year survival rates may exceed 20 percent for patients who have complete responses. 3 With the combined treatment, the risk of a thoracic recurrence decreases, and as a result, brain metastasis becomes one of the main types of relapse. Although only 10 percent of patients have brain metastasis at the time of diagnosis, the cumulative incidence at two years . . .