small-cell lung cancer

noun

: cancer of a highly malignant form that affects the lungs, tends to metastasize to other parts of the body, and is characterized by small round or oval cells which resemble oat grains and have little cytoplasm

called also small-cell carcinoma

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web Her sister and only immediate survivor, Patricia Pollok, said the cause was small-cell lung cancer. —

Penelope Green, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2022 Normally, determining what treatment will work for people with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is invasive and time-consuming. —

Jennifer Walter, Discover Magazine, 17 Sep. 2019 Another tunicate, Ecteinascidia turbinata, which attaches to submerged mangrove roots, yielded the molecular mixture that led to Yondelis, a sarcoma and ovarian cancer drug, and Zepzelca, which targets small-cell lung cancer. —

Stephanie Stone, Scientific American, 23 July 2022 Lilly had been planning to introduce Tyvyt as a treatment for non-small-cell lung cancer at a lower price than comparable treatments in the U.S., such as Merck’s Keytruda and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. —

Peter Loftus, WSJ, 24 Mar. 2022 Lengo’s molecule aims to enable treatment or prevention of brain metastases, which are a particular risk for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. —

Mike Freeman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Nov. 2021 Current clinical trials exclude up to a fifth of patients with EGFR mutant non-small-cell lung cancer because each clinical trial typically focuses on only a handful of specific mutation types. —

Jacqulyne Robichaux, The Conversation, 25 Oct. 2021 The company also plans to initiate Phase 2a expansion studies for zotatifin, a small-molecule inhibitor for patients with breast cancer and non-small-cell lung cancer in the second half of 2021. —

Mike Freeman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 May 2021 He has just been diagnosed with stage III non-small-cell lung cancer. —

Amitha Kalaichandran, Wired, 26 Mar. 2021 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'small-cell lung cancer.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

First Known Use

1975, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of small-cell lung cancer was in 1975

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Dictionary Entries Near small-cell lung cancer

small capital

small-cell lung cancer

small chair

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“Small-cell lung cancer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/small-cell%20lung%20cancer. Accessed 20 Mar. 2023.

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Medical Definition

small-cell lung cancer

noun

: cancer of a highly malignant form that affects the lungs, tends to metastasize to other parts of the body, and is characterized by small round or oval cells resembling oat grains and having a high ratio of nuclear protoplasm to cytoplasm

called also oat-cell cancer, oat-cell carcinoma, small-cell carcinoma, small-cell lung carcinoma