Novel Systemic Therapies for Small Cell Lung Cancer

Authors:
Charles M. Rudin From The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Maryland.

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 MD, PhD
,
Christine L. Hann From The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Maryland.

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 MD
,
Craig D. Peacock From The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Maryland.

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D. Neil Watkins From The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Maryland.

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 MBBS, PhD
Volume/Issue:
Volume 6: Issue 3
Online Publication Date:
Mar 2008
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6004/jnccn.2008.0026
Full access

A diagnosis of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) today confers essentially the same terrible prognosis that it did 25 years ago, when common use of cisplatin-based chemotherapy began for this disease. In contrast to past decades of research on many other solid tumors, studies of combination chemotherapy using later generation cytotoxics and targeted kinase inhibitors have not had a significant impact on standard care for SCLC. The past few years have seen suggestions of incrementally improved outcomes using standard cytotoxics, including cisplatin-based combination studies of irinotecan and amrubicin by Japanese research consortia. Confirmatory phase III studies of these agents are ongoing in the United States. Antiangiogenic strategies are also of primary interest and are in late-phase testing. Several novel therapeutics, including high-potency small molecule inhibitors of Bcl-2 and the Hedgehog signaling pathway, and a recently discovered replication-competent picornavirus, have shown remarkable activity against SCLC in preclinical models and are currently in simultaneous phase I clinical development. Novel therapeutic approaches based on advances in understanding of the biology of SCLC have the potential to radically change the outlook for patients with this disease.

Correspondence: Charles M. Rudin, MD, PhD, The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, David H. Koch Cancer Research Building, Room 544, 1550 Orleans Street, Baltimore, MD 21231. E-mail: rudin@jhmi.edu
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Print ISSN:
1540-1405
Online ISSN:
1540-1413
Publisher:
National Comprehensive Cancer Network
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Copyright:
Copyright © 2008 by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network
Page Numbers:
8
Article Category:
Research Article
Received:
31 Aug 2007
Accepted:
16 Nov 2007
Print Publication Date:
01 Mar 2008
Online Publication Date:
Mar 2008
Keywords:
Small cell lung cancer; novel therapeutics; Bcl-2; Hedgehog; SVV-001

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