Case of Complete Remission from Palliative Radiation in Extensive Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer With Large Brain Metastasis Nine Years After Diagnosis: Cure Is Possible

Extensive stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) with symptomatic brain metastasis (BM) carries very poor prognosis with a median survival of only three to four months. This case shows the potential benefit of offering aggressive multimodality treatment to achieve the best quality of life and to improve survival. A complete response (CR) was achieved following craniotomy, whole brain irradiation (WBI), palliative chemotherapy, and palliative consolidative thoracic radiotherapy (CTRT) for ES-SCLC with large symptomatic BM. There was no residual cancer or further metastasis seen on CT imaging. The patient remains cancer free and asymptomatic nine years after the initial diagnosis.