Abstract
The author lists overview information on small-cell lung car-cinomas (SCLC). These tumours are fast-growing, genetically heterogeneous and highly malignant in terms of their biological behaviour.
Their early detection is rare and current screening programmes are not adequate to positively influence it. The overview lists prognostic factors, the method for staging the illness and recommended therapeutic procedures.
The basis for current treatment of SCLC is a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, with surgery utilised relatively rarely. In terms of therapeutic response, SCLC can be classified into chemosen-sitive, chemoresistant and chemorefracotry types.
All current combinations of cytostatics are listed in the 1st and 2nd lines of treatment, concomitant chemotherapy in cases of limited forms of the disease are emphasised along with the importance of prophylactic radiotherapy of the brain after achieving remi-ssion of the tumour. In near future, we can expect to see use of anti-tumour immunotherapy with CTLA-4 or PD-1/PD-L1 for SCLC, or alternatively the use of vaccines based on dendritic cells.