Clinical Analysis of Small Cell Lung Cancer with Bone Marrow Metastases

Background and objective Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is highly malignant and prone to bone marrow metastasis in early stage, but its related reports are limited. This study analyzed the clinical feature, laboratory examination, treatment and prognosis of SCLC patients with bone marrow metastasis. Methods The clinical data of 26 SCLC patients with bone marrow metastasis were analyzed retrospectively. Prognostic factors were evaluated. Results The median age of 26 patients was 57 years and the median time from diagnosis of SCLC to confirmed bone marrow metastases was 8 d. Most patients (96.2%) were accompanied by other organ metastases. The most common laboratory abnormalities were elevated lactate dehydrogenase in 19 cases (73.1%), thrombocytopenia and elevated alkaline phosphatase respectively in 11 cases (42.3%) and anemia in 7 cases (26.9%). Twenty patients had received chemotherapy and the remaining 6 patients had not. Of this group, 16 patients received at least 2 cycles of chemotherapy after the diagnosis of bone marrow metastasis. The median survival time was 15.7 wk (0.1 wk-82.9 wk) after diagnosis of bone marrow metastasis. The survival of patients with chemotherapy was significantly better than that of those without chemotherapy (χ2=33.768, P<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that no chemotherapy was independent poor prognostic factors (P<0.05). Conclusion The SCLC patients with bone marrow metastasis have short survival, whereas chemotherapy can extend the survival of patients.？