Gordana Drpa

Small cell lung cancer with solitary brain metastasis treated with complete resection

The common treatment modality for extensive‐stage small cell lung cancer is chemotherapy, which significantly improves survival in these patients. However, the median survival is still poor and usually does not reach 12 months. For a long time, surgery has not played any role in the treatment of small cell lung cancer. In recent years, the operative approach has been accepted as a form of treatment for patients with limited‐stage disease. However, in patients with resectable primary carcinoma and solitary metastasis, surgery is not recommended, although it is the standard method of treatment in patients with non‐small cell lung cancer and other malignancies. We report the long‐term survival of a patient with metastatic small cell lung cancer treated with complete resection of both the primary tumor and the solitary brain metastasis.