Left behind? Drug discovery in extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer

Systemic therapy and subsequent survival for patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) are poor and have remained unchanged in the past quarter century. To improve outcomes in these patients, a new drug development paradigm must be adopted that moves away from empiricism and instead focuses on tumor biology and heterogeneity as a means to increase target and drug class diversity. By incorporating tools that have led to new diagnostic and treatment options in non-small-cell lung cancer, there could be hope yet for the future of SCLC therapeutics.