Chemotherapy for small cell lung cancer with brain metastases

Patients with small cell lung cancer present initially with brain metastases in 10 to 24% of the cases when detected respectively by CT scan or Gadolinium-enhanced MRI of the brain. The aim of this review is to evaluate the effectiveness of systemic chemotherapy for the treatment of brain metastases from small cell lung cancer in first and second line: in fact, there are only case reports, small phase II studies and one phase III study. In spite of the scarcity of these data, the efficacy of the systemic treatment is shown and the guidelines recommend the use of chemotherapy, particularly in asymptomatic patients.