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4 treatment settings, 4 with more than one named option. Each section lays out the options the standard of care names, what each is for, the trials behind them with their recorded results, the side effects and cautions on record, and questions to ask. Built from the cancer page's standard-of-care rows; nothing here is advice for your case.
Four cycles of carboplatin or cisplatin plus etoposide with atezolizumab (IMpower133) or durvalumab (CASPIAN), then maintenance immunotherapy until progression; lurbinectedin added to atezolizumab maintenance (IMforte); serplulimab, adebrelimab or benmelstobart in China.
Platinum plus etoposide has been the chemotherapy backbone of small-cell lung cancer for over 40 years, and is now given with immunotherapy.
Carboplatin is a platinum chemotherapy that crosslinks DNA; it is part of the standard pre-surgery regimen for triple-negative breast cancer.
Cisplatin is the original platinum chemotherapy, discovered by accident in 1965; it cures testicular cancer and makes radiation work better in cervical and head and neck cancer.
Etoposide is a chemotherapy from the mayapple plant, essential to curing testicular cancer (BEP), treating small-cell lung cancer, lymphomas, childhood sarcomas and leukaemias, and used in transplant conditioning.
A PD-L1 blocker used in lung, liver, and bladder cancer. In 2026 it became the first drug approved based on a blood test showing leftover cancer after bladder surgery.
A PD-L1 blocker that became standard after chemoradiation for stage III lung cancer, and now in bladder, biliary, and gastric cancers.
A marine-derived chemotherapy that jams cancer's gene-reading machinery, approved for relapsed small-cell lung cancer and, since 2025, as first-line maintenance with atezolizumab.
Serplulimab is a Chinese PD-1 antibody with the largest survival gain of any first-line small-cell lung cancer immunotherapy trial, approved in China, Europe, and the UK but not yet the US.
Adebrelimab is Hengrui's PD-L1 antibody, approved in China for first-line extensive-stage small cell lung cancer on the CAPSTONE-1 trial.
Benmelstobart is Chia Tai Tianqing's PD-L1 antibody, approved in China in 2024 for extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer in combination with anlotinib and chemotherapy.
OS 12.3 vs 10.3 months, HR 0.70.
Averages across everyone diagnosed, often years ago. A median is the middle of a group: half the people counted lived longer than the figure shown, and some lived far longer. Your stage, subtype, age, fitness and the treatment you receive matter more than the average, and the numbers are improving quickly.
OS 13.2 vs 10.6 months (HR 0.73); PFS HR 0.54.
OS 15.4 vs 10.9 months, HR 0.63.
| Side effect | Any grade | Grade 3+ |
|---|---|---|
| Pneumonitis (immune-mediated) · Monotherapy pooled | 3% | 0.8% |
| Hepatitis (immune-mediated) · Monotherapy pooled | 1.8% | 0.7% |
| Colitis (immune-mediated) · Monotherapy pooled | 1% | 0.5% |
| Hypothyroidism (immune-mediated) · Monotherapy pooled | 4.9% | 0.2% |
Rates from the label or pivotal trial as recorded on the product page; each grade 3+ figure links to its source.
| Side effect | Any grade | Grade 3+ |
|---|---|---|
| Pneumonitis (any cause, PACIFIC) · vs 12.8% placebo; 1.1% fatal | 18.3% | - |
Rates from the label or pivotal trial as recorded on the product page; each grade 3+ figure links to its source.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Tarlatamab (DeLLphi-304) with inpatient monitoring for cytokine release syndrome during the first doses; lurbinectedin or topotecan as alternatives; platinum-etoposide rechallenge if relapse is more than six months after first line.
The first T-cell engager to improve survival in a common solid tumour, small-cell lung cancer.
An off-the-shelf drug that physically links a killer T cell to a cancer cell, forcing the attack.
A marine-derived chemotherapy that jams cancer's gene-reading machinery, approved for relapsed small-cell lung cancer and, since 2025, as first-line maintenance with atezolizumab.
Topotecan is the long-standing second-line chemotherapy for relapsed small-cell lung cancer, and now the comparator that new drugs must beat.
Platinum plus etoposide has been the chemotherapy backbone of small-cell lung cancer for over 40 years, and is now given with immunotherapy.
OS HR 0.60.
| Side effect | Any grade | Grade 3+ |
|---|---|---|
| Fatigue · DeLLphi-301, n=187 | 51% | 10% |
| Haemoglobin decreased · DeLLphi-301, n=187 | 58% | 5% |
| Decreased appetite · DeLLphi-301, n=187 | 34% | 2.7% |
| Cytokine release syndrome · DeLLphi-301, n=187 | 55% | 1.6% |
Rates from the label or pivotal trial as recorded on the product page; each grade 3+ figure links to its source.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
MRI surveillance every three months or prophylactic cranial irradiation after response to first-line treatment; whole-brain or stereotactic radiotherapy for metastases.
Small-cell lung cancer spreads to the brain so often that doctors used to irradiate the whole brain pre-emptively. Regular MRI scans are now challenging that practice.
MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves, with no ionising radiation, to picture soft tissue in finer contrast than CT, so it is the standard scan for brain tumours, prostate, rectal cancer staging, liver lesions and breast screening in high-risk women. It is slow, expensive and blurred by movement.
A single very high dose, or a few doses, aimed at a small brain or spine target with millimetre precision, replacing whole-brain radiotherapy for most brain metastases.
Averages across everyone diagnosed, often years ago. A median is the middle of a group: half the people counted lived longer than the figure shown, and some lived far longer. Your stage, subtype, age, fitness and the treatment you receive matter more than the average, and the numbers are improving quickly.
Averages across everyone diagnosed, often years ago. A median is the middle of a group: half the people counted lived longer than the figure shown, and some lived far longer. Your stage, subtype, age, fitness and the treatment you receive matter more than the average, and the numbers are improving quickly.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Consolidative thoracic radiotherapy (30 Gy in 10 fractions) for patients with residual chest disease after chemotherapy.
IMRT and IGRT shape the radiation beam to the tumour's outline from multiple angles and check the patient's position with a scan before every session, so surrounding organs receive less dose. Fewer, larger doses are now standard in breast and prostate cancer, but a low-dose bath still spreads across normal tissue.
Fewer, larger daily doses instead of the classic five to seven weeks of small ones. Large trials in breast and prostate cancer showed the same control with the same or fewer late effects and far less time in hospital.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.