Objectives: The efficacy of third-line (3L) chemotherapy is controversial in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer. In this study, we aimed to assess the effectiveness of 3L chemotherapy in our cohort. Methods: This was a single-center, retrospective, cross-sectional, and cohort study. A total of 55 patients were evaluated. Results: Forty-two patients (76.4%) received 3L treatment, whereas 13 patients (23.6%) who required therapy because of progressive disease did not receive 3L treatment. The overall response rate was 7.1%. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 2.82 months. The median overall survival (OS) of all patients, patients who received 3L treatment, and patients who did not receive 3L treatment were 19.97 months, 21.63 months and 14.62 months, respectively. Good performance status was detected as a significant univariate parameter for median PFS (p=0.048), but was not meet the statistical significance criteria in multivariate analysis. Receiving 3L treatment and good performance status were the significant parameters for OS both in univariate (p=0.019 and p=0.045) and multivariate analysis (p=0.022 and p=0.048). Conclusion: We demonstrated that receiving 3L treatment and good performance status were associated with increased OS. In addition, we revealed that good performance status might be associated with prolonged PFS achieved by 3L treatment. Keywords: Extensive, third-line chemotherapy, small cell lung cancer, survival
Corresponding Author: Mustafa Karaagac