Small Cell Lung Cancer

Small cell lung cancer is a fast-growing type of lung cancer made up of small, tightly packed neuroendocrine cells. It makes up roughly one in seven lung cancers and is strongly linked to smoking. Asbestos exposure raises the risk of all major types of lung cancer, including small cell.

Origin

Pathologists described this tumor in the early twentieth century; its older name, oat cell carcinoma, comes from the oat-grain shape of the cells under the microscope. It was later recognized as a cancer of neuroendocrine cells, separate from the non-small cell types.

Significance in Asbestos Context

Small cell lung cancer is usually staged as limited (confined to one side of the chest) or extensive, and it often has spread by the time it is found. It typically responds at first to chemotherapy, now often combined with immunotherapy, and radiation is used for limited disease, but it tends to come back. Because it is so strongly tied to smoking, defendants often argue that smoking alone caused it. Medical consensus statements, including the Helsinki criteria, treat asbestos as a cause of lung cancer regardless of cell type, and smoking and asbestos together multiply the risk. Trust lung cancer criteria do not usually depend on the cell type, but the higher-paying level generally requires evidence of asbestosis or bilateral pleural disease, plus qualifying exposure and latency. Most trusts also have a lower lung cancer level (often called Lung Cancer 2) for claims without that evidence; it pays roughly what an asbestosis claim pays, or less. A lawsuit will turn on the exposure evidence and on the medical experts' views on causation.

Example Sentence

The bronchoscopy biopsy showed small cell lung cancer, and his CT also showed bilateral pleural plaques from his years in a shipyard.

Related Terms

Lung Cancer, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Bronchogenic Carcinoma, Helsinki Criteria, Synergistic Effect, Chemotherapy, Atezolizumab (Tecentriq), Smoking Defense

Notes

• Keep the pathology report naming the cancer type.
• Ask your doctors to record any asbestos-related lung or pleural changes they see on your scans.
• Give your lawyer a full work history and smoking history early; both will be examined.