lurbinectedin demonstrated following clinical results in refractory small cell lung cancer trial: overall survival rate of 15.2 months for sensitive disease (chemotherapy-free interval of ≥ 90 days) with a disease control rate of 79.3% and overall response rate of 46.6%, and overall survival rate of 5.1 months for resistant (chemotherapy-free interval of < 90 days) with a disease control rate of 46.8% and overall response rate 21.3%. lurbinectedin is also being investigated in combination with doxorubicin as second-line therapy in a randomized phase 3 trial. while overall survival in this trial is not yet known, response rates at second line were 91.7% in sensitive disease with median progression-free survival of 5.8 months , and 33.3% in resistant disease with median progression-free of 3.5 months. lurbinectedin is currently available in the u.s. under an expanded access program (eap). trilaciclib, a ckd4/6 inhibitor, reduces chemotheraphy-induced toxicity in patients being treated for small-cell lung cancer. trilaciclib’s developer, g1 therapeutics, makes the drug available in the u.s. under expanded access while the fda considers its new drug application (nda). an approval decision on the nda is expected by february 15, 2021. on february 12, 2021, the fda approved trilaciclib (brand name cosela) as a treatment to reduce the frequency of chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression for patients receiving certain types of chemotherapy for extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer. prognosis 5-year survival rates for small cell lung cancer (extensive and limited) range between 3.6% and 32.2% for women, and between 2.2% and 24.5% for men. relative 5-year survival rate for both sexes has increased from 3.6% in 1975 to 6.7% in 2014. small-cell carcinoma is very responsive to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and in particular, regimens based on platinum-containing agents. however, most people with the disease relapse and median survival remains low. the overall incidence and mortality rates of sclc in the united states have decreased during the past few decades. pie chart showing incidence of small-cell lung cancer (shown in red at right), as compared to other lung cancer types, with fractions of smokers versus non-smokers shown for each type. in limited-stage disease, relative 5-year survival rate (both sexes, all races, all ages) is 21.3%; however, women have higher 5-year survival rates, 26.9%, and men have lower survival rates, 21.3%. the prognosis is far grimmer in extensive-stage small-cell lung carcinoma where 5-year relative survival rate (both sexes, all races, all ages) is 2.8%; however, women have higher 5-year survival rates, 3.4%, and men have lower 5-year survival rates, 2.2%. long-term survival of more than 5 years can be achieved with proper treatment. according to the 17th world conference on lung cancer (wclc), "patients who received chest radiation and prophylactic cranial irradiation along with a mean of five chemotherapy cycles could achieve a median survival of more than 5 years." in some cases, long-term survival of 10+ years is achieved with chemotherapy and radiation alone. 5-year survival rates the seer database tracks 5-year relative survival rates based on age, sex, and race and is considered the most accurate source of survival information. this database uses terms "localized," "regional," and "distant" to describe various stages of small cell lung cancer. 5-year relative survival rate for "both sexes" and "all races" affected by "localized" small cell lung cancer is 28.5%; "regional" small cell lung cancer 14.9%; and for "distant" small cell lung cancer 2.9%. survival rates by sex women affected by small-cell lung cancer have higher 5-year survival rates than men. localized: women – 32.2% | men – 24.5% regional: women – 17.0% | men – 12.3% distant: women – 3.6% | men – 2.2% survival rates by race, sex, age 5-year relative survival statistics are more accurate and, in some cases, higher when specific race and age range are combined with sex and stage at diagnosis. for example, black / female | ages < 50 (at diagnosis) | distant (es sclc) | = 7.0%. white / female | ages < 50 (at diagnosis) | distant (es sclc) | = 6.1% national cancer institute's seer maintains publicly accessible database for specific survival rates. epidemiology 15% of lung cancers in the us are of this type. small cell lung cancer occurs almost exclusively in smokers – most commonly in heavy smokers and rarely in non-smokers. recalcitrant cancer research act in 2013, the us congress passed the recalcitrant cancer research act, which mandated increased attention to certain recalcitrant cancers, including small cell lung cancer. that led to the national cancer institute supporting small cell–specific research through a consortium. as a result, new experimental drugs for small cell lung cancer are currently being tested, including iadademstat (ory-1001) and keytruda (pembrolizumab). additional images anaplastic (microcellular, oat cell) carcinoma from the lung (histopathology) histopathologic image of small-cell carcinoma of the lung. ct-guided core needle biopsy. notable cases dustin diamond, perhaps best known as an actor on saved by the bell.