If you have early stage small cell lung cancer you are most likely to have chemotherapy and radiotherapy to the lung. It is quite common for this type of cancer to spread to the brain. So doctors often recommend that people with early small cell lung cancer have radiotherapy to the brain to try to kill any cancer cells that may have already spread there. This is called prophylactic cranial irradiation or PCI.
If you have very early stage small cell lung cancer that has not spread to any lymph nodes, you may have surgery to remove the part of the lung containing the tumour (a lobectomy) followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. But usually the cancer has already spread at the time of diagnosis and surgery is not then possible.
If you have small cell cancer that has spread to lymph nodes or other areas of the body you may have chemotherapy, radiotherapy or biological therapy treatment to relieve symptoms. If chemotherapy works well to shrink the lung tumour down and you are fairly fit you may also have radiotherapy to the brain to kill any cancer cells that may have already spread there. This is called prophylactic cranial irradiation or PCI.
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