Assessing the Small Cell Lung Cancer Treatment Landscape
Small Cell Lung Cancer Diagnosis
Kristie L. Kahl: To start, can you discuss what the difference is between a small cell and a non-small cell lung cancer diagnosis?
Wade T. Iams, MD: Those are the 2 major types of lung cancer, and the difference is the cell type within the lung from which the cancer started. Small cell lung cancer begins in neuroendocrine tumors within the lung, whereas non-small cell lung cancer begins in a different set of cells, either in the central lung or out in the periphery. They are the 2 main subtypes differentiated both by site – typically small cell lung cancer in the mid chest and non-small cell often out at the periphery, but can also be in the mid chest – and then treatment modalities.