Table 2. Selected molecular targeted agents evaluated in clinical trials in SCLC treatment.
| Agent | Target | Clinical trial | Phase/line | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bevacizumab | VEGF | Pujol et al. (67) | II–III/1st | No benefit |
| Aflibercept | VEGF | Allen et al. (68) | II/2nd | No benefit in OS |
| Thalidomide | Immunomodulatory/angiogenesis | Lee et al. (69) | III/1st, maintenance | No benefit |
| Sunitinib | Multiple kinases, VEGFR | Ready et al. (70) | II/maintenance | Benefit in PFS |
| Sorafenib | Multiple kinases, VEGFR | Gitlitz et al. (71) | II1/2nd | Insufficient efficacy |
| Imatinib | C-kit | Schneider et al. (72) | II1/maintenance | Insufficient efficacy2 |
| Gefitinib | EGFR | Moore et al. (74) | II1/2nd | Insufficient efficacy |
| Dasatinib | C-kit, c-Src | Miller et al. (75) | II1/2nd | Insufficient efficacy |
| Temsirolimus | mTORC1 | Pandya et al. (73) | II/maintenance | Insufficient efficacy3 |
| Everolimus | mTORC1 | Tarhini et al. (76) | II1/2nd | Insufficient efficacy |
| Cixutumumab | IGF-1R | Belani et al. (77) | II/1st | No benefit4 |
| Vismodegib | SMO | Belani et al. (77) | II/1st | No benefit4 |
| Tipifarnib | Farnesyl transferase | Heymach et al. (78) | II1/2nd | Insufficient efficacy |
| Marimastat | Matrix metalloproteinase | Shepherd et al. (79) | III/maintenance | No benefit |
| Oblimersen | Bcl-2 | Rudin et al. (80) | II/1st | No benefit |
| Navitoclax | Bcl-2 and Bcl-x(L) | Rudin et al. (81) | II1/2nd | Limited activity, potential biomarker |
| Bortezomib | Proteasome | Lara et al. (82) | II/≥2nd | Insufficient efficacy |
| Vandetanib | RET, VEGFR, EGFR | Arnold et al. (83) | II/maintenance | Insufficient efficacy |
| Romidepsin | HDAC | Otterson et al. (84) | II1/2nd | Insufficient efficacy |
| AT-101 (Gossypol) | Small molecules in apoptosis5 | Baggstrom et al. (85) | II1/2nd | Insufficient efficacy |
| Pazopanib | VEGFR | Kotsakis et al. (86) | II1/2nd | Moderate efficacy4 |
1, Non-randomized trial; 2, biomarker-driven study; 3, both study arms were experimental; 4, data presented in conference abstract; 5, inhibitor of the antiapoptotic Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, Bcl-W, and Mcl-1 proteins and inducer of the pro-apoptotic noxa and puma proteins. SCLC, small cell lung cancer; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor; OS, overall survival; VEGFR, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor; PFS, progression-free survival; EGFR, epidermal growth factor receptor; IGF-1R, insulin-like growth factor type-1 receptor; SMO, smoothened receptor; HDAC, histone deacetylase.