Long-term survival in a patient with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer treated with multiple courses of salvage stereotactic radiation after whole brain radiotherapy: A case report

Intracranial recurrence following initial cranial irradiation for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) can often be a treatment dilemma given the aggressive nature of the disease, the overall poor prognosis and concerns regarding re-treatment toxicity. The present report describes the case of a 62-year-old man diagnosed with ES-SCLC and synchronous brain metastases who initially underwent whole brain radiotherapy, chemotherapy and consolidative thoracic radiotherapy. The patient was found to have a solitary intracranial recurrence at both 3.5 and 6 years after his diagnosis. On both occasions, the patient received salvage stereotactic radiation, 30 Gy in 5 fractions, and continues to remain functionally independent. Overall, the present case demonstrates that with the appropriate patient selection, aggressive local salvage of recurrent intracranial ES-SCLC with stereotactic radiation can yield excellent and durable clinical outcomes.