Small cell anaplastic carcinoma of the lung. A review of growth characteristics and implications for chemotherapy.

Small cell anaplastic lung cancer is increasingly considered to be potentially curable. The opinion that this tumor is a rapidly proliferating one has not been substantiated by kinetic studies, and for this reason late relapse may occur in complete remitters. Differential rates of response/relapse in different tumor sites may be explained on the basis of heterogeneity in tumor kinetics.