Onkologie. 2025:19(4):214-218 | DOI: 10.36290/xon.2025.040

Durvalumab in the treatment of limited-stage SCLC

Juraj Kultan
Klinika plicních nemocí a tuberkulózy, Fakultní nemocnice Olomouc

Despite general advances in the systemic treatment of solid malignant tumours in recent decades, limited-stage small cell lung cancer has remained one of the few in which novel types of anticancer therapy (immunotherapy or targeted therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors) had not been implemented into the therapeutic algorithm. This was logically associated with a limited progress in the parameters of overall survival, speci­fically the 5-year survival rates of patients. Currently, we are witnessing the introduction of adjuvant immunotherapy after chemoradiotherapy in real-world clinical practice for limited-stage small cell lung cancer. This option was achieved based on the results of the ADRIATIC clinical trial in which durvalumab (a PD-L1 inhibitor) administered in patients after concomitant platinum-based chemoradiotherapy, in whom there was no progression after the initial treatment, was shown to have a statistically significant improvement in the primary endpoints - time to progression and overall survival - compared with the control arm with placebo. This fact was reflected by the regulatory authorities of the European Union in February/March 2025, which recommended the use of durvalumab in this setting.

Keywords: small cell lung cancer (SCLC), limited stage, immunotherapy, durvalumab.

Accepted: September 30, 2025; Published: October 8, 2025  Show citation

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Kultan J. Durvalumab in the treatment of limited-stage SCLC. Onkologie. 2025;19(4):214-218. doi: 10.36290/xon.2025.040.
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