REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
This article is part of the Research TopicPrecision Oncology: Integrating Molecular Mechanisms, Organoid Models, and Omics Technologies for Personalized Cancer CareView all 4 articles
Advancements in Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer Therapy: From Molecular Profiling to the Advent of Precision Oncology
Provisionally accepted
- Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is challenging to manage due to its high malignancy and early metastatic spread. Although initial chemoradiotherapy responses are common, resistance rapidly develops, and long-term efficacy remains limited. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) overcome previous survival barriers, extending overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in extensive-stage SCLC. Nevertheless, absolute clinical benefits remain modest. To address efficacy limitations, current research focuses on optimizing first-line strategies by exploring multimodal regimens (e.g., adding targeted therapy or radiotherapy to chemoimmunotherapy) and advancing molecular subtyping for precision oncology. Furthermore, emerging therapies such as DLL3-targeted agents, bispecific antibodies (bsAbs), antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy continue to demonstrate clinical progress. This review synthesizes advances in SCLC management, focusing on mechanisms and clinical applications of multimodal strategies and novel therapies. It provides guidance for clinical decisions, research directions, and survival improvement.
Keywords: extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer, Immunotherapy, Molecular subtypes, newevolving targeted agents, Antiangiogenic
Received: 28 Jul 2025; Accepted: 27 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Shao, Zhang, Zhang and Zhao. 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: Yanbin Zhao, zhaoyanbin1978@sina.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.