ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1652803
Clinicopathological Characteristics and Treatment Patterns of Combined Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A Real-World Single-Center Study with a Mini Review
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Medical Oncology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Graduate School, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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Background: Combined small-cell lung cancer is a rare subtype of SCLC, which is characterized by the coexistence of SCLC with any histological type of non-small cell lung cancer. There is limited clinical data. We aimed to explore the clinicopathological features and prognosis of C-SCLC patients who received anti-tumor therapy. Methods: Eligible patients were histopathologically confirmed adult C-SCLC who received anti-tumor treatment at Sir Run Run Hospital. This analysis aimed to describe the clinicopathological characteristics and evaluate the tumor response rate (RR), disease control rate (DCR), and progression-free survival (PFS). Results: Thirty patients were included. Eighty-three point three three percent were male, and sixty-six point six seven percent were non-smokers. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC; 11/30) and adenocarcinoma (AC; 11/30) were the most frequently observed mixed components, followed by large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC; 8/30). Patients received immunochemotherapy (13/30), platinum-based chemotherapy (9/30), or anti-EGFR-/anti-VEGF-based therapy (8/30). Most patients used the anti-PD-1 inhibitor Serplulimab (n=7). Among 27 patients with measurable disease, the RR and DCR were 51.85% (95% CI: 31.95 - 71.33%) and 85.19% (95% CI: 66.27 - 95.81%), respectively. The median PFS was 9.70 months (95% CI: 4.37 - 18.73). The median PFS of C-SCLC mixed with LCNEC was higher than that of those mixed with AC or SCC (10.62 vs. 9.70 vs. 4.17 months; P=0.858); patients are more likely to benefit from immunotherapy than from chemotherapy and targeted therapy (9.70 vs. 5.27 vs. NR months; P=0.685). Conclusion: Our findings provide a basis for systematic treatment strategies in C-SCLC and suggest that patients may derive benefit from immunotherapy, although further studies are needed to confirm these observations.
Keywords: Immunotherapy, chemotherapy, Combined small-cell lung cancer, Real-world study, treatment strategies
Received: 24 Jun 2025; Accepted: 01 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gong, Li, Shou, Sheng, Jin, Lou, Li, Hu and Fang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yong Fang, Department of Medical Oncology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Graduate School, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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