Preface on small cell lung cancer

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is one of the four major histologic types of lung cancer. This disease has been notable for the absence of major improvements in its treatment. Nearly four decades after the introduction of a platinum-etoposide doublet, therapeutic options have remained virtually unchanged, with correspondingly little improvement in survival rates. For these reasons SCLC was declared a “recalcitrant” cancer. Since the approval of topotecan in 1996, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved any new drugs for the treatment of SCLC patients. There are no accepted regimens for patients whose disease has progressed after first- and second-line treatments. This is in stark contrast to the progress that has been made in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Despite the paucity of therapeutic advances in SCLC, considerable therapeutic opportunities, including targeted therapies, exist because of recent developments in understanding the biology and molecular biology of the disease.