I am not a big fan of PCI. I think the term itself is a misnomer. PCI trials in LS-SCLC were conducted in an era when MRI brains were not performed.Let's look at the "outdated" data that all of us, including NCCN, quote. A meta-analysis conducted by Auperin and colleagues demonstrated a 5.4% 3-year ...

This is a difficult question and I am not sure there is a "yes" or "no" answer. This depends on whether the patient's primary disease has had good response to chemotherapy and radiation and whether the patient has any neurological complaints at all at the time of consideration of PCI or other risk f...

SWOG S1827 (MAVERICK) trial is under way for both LS and ES SCLC patients in order to study the benefits of PCI in the modern era. Ideally, patients should be enrolled in this trial since the question of PCI is so controversial. Outside of this protocol, NRG LU005, which is a trial for chemo radiati...

This is a difficult question to answer definitively either way. While yes, PCI is still standard of care for LS-SCLC based on an OS benefit, the benefits are modest and are currently being called into question. For most patients, we still recommend it. Clearly, in the elderly or in patients with und...