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If you have small cell lung cancer you may be offered...
Chemotherapy
This is the most usual treatment for small cell lung cancer.
Chemotherapy uses special drugs to kill cancer cells. The drugs can shrink the cancer and make you feel better. Most patients have chemotherapy every 3-4 weeks for up to six months.
Small cell lung cancer usually responds well to chemotherapy at first... but the cancer may come back quite quickly.
Radiotherapy
Patients who have had a good response to their chemotherapy are offered radiotherapy afterwards. Radiotherapy uses radiation to kill cancer cells. It is usually given from outside the body. This is called external beam radiotherapy.
The radiotherapy is given to the chest area. Some patients also have radiotherapy to the brain. Small cell lung cancer may spread to the brain and the aim of the radiotherapy is to try to stop this from happening. The treatment is called prophylactic cranial irradiation. It isn't suitable for all patients - your doctor will tell you whether s/he thinks you may benefit.
If there is evidence that there is already secondary cancer in the brain, you may be offered radiotherapy to treat it - but if you have previously had prophylactic cranial irradiation (above) you will not be able to have radiotherapy to the brain again.
Airway stents and internal radiotherapy
These treatments may be used to help you if the cancer is blocking your large airway, making it harder for you to breathe.
A stent is a device that can keep the airway open. It works a bit like an umbrella. The doctor uses a bronchoscope to put it in place. The stent then opens out and pushes against the walls of the airway, keeping it open and allowing you to breathe more easily.
Internal radiotherapy - called brachytherapy - can also be used to treat large airway blockage. A very small amount of radiation is put into the lung, to kill cancer cells from the inside.
For more information on treatments, go to our cancer treatments section.
