Hippocampal avoidance in prophylactic cranial irradiation for small cell lung cancer: benefits and pitfalls.

ABSTRACT: Small cell lung cancers (SCLC) are a group of cancers that are clinically and pathologically different from other lung cancers. They are associated with high recurrence rates and mortality, and many patients present with metastatic disease. Approximately ten percent of SCLC patients have brain metastases at time of diagnosis, and the cumulative incidence of brain metastases increases to more than fifty percent at two years, even with optimal treatment. Hence, in patients without brain metastases at presentation, prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) is an important component of treatment along with systemic chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The goal of PCI is to decrease the incidence of subsequent symptomatic brain metastases in patients who show an initial response to the systemic treatmen

SUBMITTER: Abraham AG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8182537 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature