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World J Clin Oncol. Jun 24, 2020; 11(6): 370-377
Published online Jun 24, 2020. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v11.i6.370
Progress in immunotherapy for small cell lung cancer
Dong Zhao, Bing Xie, Yong Yang, Peng Yan, Sheng-Nan Liang, Qiang Lin
Dong Zhao, Bing Xie, Yong Yang, Peng Yan, Sheng-Nan Liang, Department of Oncology, The People’s Hospital of Lixin County, Bozhou 236700, Anhui Province, China
Qiang Lin, Department of Oncology, North China Petroleum Bureau General Hospital, Hebei Medical University, Renqiu 062552, Hebei Province, China
Author contributions: Zhao D participated in the study design and drafted the manuscript; Xie B, Yang Y, Yan P, and Liang SN participated in the drafting of the manuscript and prepared the data; Lin Q designed the study and critically revised the intellectual content and gave final approval of manuscript; All authors issued final approval for the version to be submitted.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest associated with any of the senior author or other coauthors contributed their efforts in this manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Qiang Lin, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Oncology, North China Petroleum Bureau General Hospital, Hebei Medical University, 8 Huizhan Avenue, Renqiu 062552, Hebei Province, China. billhappy001@163.com
Received: February 26, 2020
Peer-review started: February 26, 2020
First decision: March 27, 2020
Revised: April 18, 2020
Accepted: May 12, 2020
Article in press: May 12, 2020
Published online: June 24, 2020
Processing time: 118 Days and 19.2 Hours
Abstract

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a special type of lung cancer that belongs to highly aggressive neuroendocrine tumors. At present, radiotherapy and chemotherapy remain the mainstay of treatment for SCLC. Progress in targeted therapies for SCLC with driver mutations has been slow, and these therapies are still under investigation in preclinical or early-phase clinical trials, and research on antiangiogenic tyrosine kinase inhibitors (e.g., anlotinib) has achieved some success. Immunotherapy is becoming an important treatment strategy for SCLC after radiotherapy and chemotherapy. In this article we review the recent advances in immunotherapy for SCLC.

Keywords: Small-cell lung cancer; Programmed death-1 inhibitors; Cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 inhibitors; Poly adenosine diphosphate ribose polymerase inhibitors

Core tip: Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a special type of lung cancer that belongs to highly aggressive neuroendocrine tumors. Classical radiotherapy and chemotherapy have a plateauing effect. Immunotherapy is becoming an important treatment strategy for SCLC. In this article, we review the recent advances in immunotherapy for SCLC.