CASE REPORT article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Thoracic Oncology
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1629307
Pathological Diagnosis of Left Upper Lobe Nodules: Two Cases of 1 Composite Small Cell Lung Cancer and Literature Review
Provisionally accepted
- 1Jining Medical University, Jining, China
- 2Jining First People's Hospital, Jining, China
- 3Jining Medical Research Academy, Jining, China
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Combined Small Cell Lung Cancer (C-SCLC) is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a combination of Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) and other components, which may include any type of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). It is a relatively rare type of lung cancer, with an incidence ranging from 2% to 28%, and its incidence is on the rise. We report two cases of combined small cell lung cancer (C-SCLC) diagnosed by postoperative pathology following thoracoscopic left upper lobectomy at our hospital. One case was small cell carcinoma combined with squamous cell carcinoma (95% SCLC + 5% SCC), while the other was small cell carcinoma combined with large cell carcinoma. Both patients were male with a history of heavy smoking. Postoperatively, they received adjuvant chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy and surgery alone, respectively. No recurrence was observed during follow-up. This paper, in conjunction with a literature review, discusses the clinical and pathological features, diagnosis, potential molecular markers, treatment, and prognosis of C-SCLC. We emphasize the importance of early surgical resection and individualized comprehensive treatment, aiming to provide clinical reference for the diagnosis and management of this rare type of lung cancer.
Keywords: Combined small cell lung cancer, Small Cell Lung Cancer, Pathology, lung cancer, Immunotherapy, EGFR mutations, case report
Received: 15 May 2025; Accepted: 26 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Jin and Wei. 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: Yutao Wei, wytgyh@163.com
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