Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 Mar;20(3):395-398.
doi: 10.1016/j.jtho.2024.11.011. Epub 2024 Nov 15.

Prophylactic Cranial Irradiation for Patients With SCLC-A New Perspective in the Immunotherapy Era

Antonin Levy  1 , Chad G Rusthoven  2 , Paul D Brown  3 , Cécile Le Péchoux  4 , Corinne Faivre-Finn  5
Affiliations
Review

Prophylactic Cranial Irradiation for Patients With SCLC-A New Perspective in the Immunotherapy Era

Antonin Levy et al. J Thorac Oncol. 2025 Mar.

Abstract

Prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) has long been used for SCLC to reduce the risk of brain metastases and potentially improve overall survival. Nevertheless, recent immunotherapy trials have provided limited data on its impact, as few patients were treated with PCI. The ADRIATIC trial reported improved outcomes with consolidation immunotherapy in limited-stage SCLC, and PCI was a stratification factor. Notably, patients receiving PCI in both arms had better outcomes than those who did not. Ongoing studies, such as EORTC-1901 PRIMALung (NCT04790253) and SWOG 1827-MAVERICK (NCT04155034), are further investigating PCI's role in the era of immunotherapy, highlighting its potential importance in evolving treatment strategies.

Keywords: Brain radiotherapy; Immune checkpoint blockers; Immune checkpoint inhibitors; Thoracic oncology.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure Dr. Levy reports academic funding outside submitted work from Roche, Beigene, MSD, AstraZeneca and Pharmamar. Dr. Brown reports honorarium from UpToDate outside submitted work. Dr. Faivre-Finn reports academic funding outside submitted work from AstraZeneca. The remaining authors declare no conflict of interest.

MeSH terms