Role of adjuvant therapy in early-stage small-cell lung cancer: comment on a population-based cohort study of patients with early-stage small-cell lung cancer

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a lethal disease for which there have been only small advances in diagnosis and treatment over the past decade. After a thorough invasive mediastinal stage evaluation, surgical resection is recommended over nonsurgical treatment in patients with clinical stage I SCLC. Although fewer than 5% of patients with SCLC present with stage I disease, the increasing use of computed tomography (CT) and minimally invasive surgery to remove suspicious lung nodules without prior biopsy may increase this percentage in the future.