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Prophylactic cranial irradiation should be considered as standard
of care for patients with extensive
small-cell lung cancer
who respond to chemotherapy Prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) is part of standard of care in patients with limited SCLC who have reached a complete remission after chemotherapy. The presumption has been that PCI would not be of benefit for patients with extensive SCLC, due to their short life expectancy. However, this randomized, controlled trial shows that in patients with extensive disease SCLC, PCI leads to a significant reduction in the risk of symptomatic brain metastases without compromising quality of life. In addition, PCI was associated with a doubling in 1-year survival. Prophylactic cranial irradiation should now be considered as standard of care for patients with extensive SCLC who respond to chemotherapy.
Bibliographic reference:
Ben Slotman Department of Radiation Oncology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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