The Prognostic Significance of Complete Response Rates in Patients with Extensive Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer

OBJECTIVE Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is the most aggressive type of lung cancer. Platinum-etoposide chemotherapy combination is used as first line treatment. The aim of this trial is evaluate the effect of complete response rates and clinical features in patients with extensive stage (ES) SCLC. METHODS In this retrospective study, a total of 117 patients from four different oncology centers in Turkey between 2011 and 2017 were divided into 2 groups, namely, patients with complete response (group 1) and those with no complete response (group 2) after platin-etoposide combination therapy. RESULTS The median age of the patients was 61 (range 38-81) years. The median follow-up time was 12 months and 95 (81%) patients died. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated, respectively, as 8 and 13 months. Overall survival of group 1 patients was statistically significantly better than the group 2 (16 versus 10 months respectively and p=0.00). The overall survival of patients who had late recurrent disease (>6 mo.) was statistically significantly better than the early ones (<6 mo) (19 versus 14 months respectively and p=0,008). CONCLUSION Complete response and recurrent free time were the prognostic factors for ES SCLC patients in our study