SCLC and Prophylactic Cranial Irradiation

By laura101

1 min read

I was diagnosed with small cell carcinoma on January 30th 2020.

I have finished my radiation of the lungs and also chemotherapy.

Prophylactic cranial irradiation

They are suggesting having PCI. I'm trying to find out if there is anyone that has gone through this process to help prepare me for what is to come.

I understand each person is different but with multiple people giving the input of their situation and experience of this procedure I am hoping to know more. PCI stands for prophylactic cranial irradiation.

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Richard Faust Community Admin
Hi Laura101. Hopefully others will chime in with any experiences they may have with prophylactic cranial irradiation. I can't offer experience, but I do want to share this research article which looks at randomized controlled trials and a meta-analysis of studies on the procedure and found a decrease in brain metastasis and increase in overall survival: http://www.seor.es/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/PCI-en-SCLC-y-NSCLC-Lancet-2016.pdf. The authors do note side effects and the balance that has to be weighed. I also want to share this analysis which found decreased brain metastasis, but that increased OS depended on the timing of brain imagining in the treatment process: <a href='https://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12885-018-5251-3' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer ugc'>https://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12885-018-5251-3</a>. Hope this information proves useful. Your doctor may be able to expound on how information such as this pertains to your case. Wishing you the best. Richard (LungCancer.net Team)
vikkr Member
I asked the same question a while back. I finished chemo in January 2020 and radiation in February 2020. I was to have my follow up appt. with radiation doctor May 11 but that got moved up due to covid19. I too was looking for people's input not more medical reading so good luck
tammyk Member
I was diagnosed in November 2019 with Stage 3 small cell lung cancer. I completed both chemo and radiation simultaneously in January 2020. Had to wait for my scan until March. Thankfully my scan came back clear. I just finished PCI for precautionary measures. It was recommended by my Radiologist. I did 10 days. I thought about it and decided to do it, just to give myself a chance that it wouldn’t spread to my brain. I can say the side effects aren’t as bad as with the lungs. I’ll say I think it’s worth it.
1. vikkr Member
 May I ask what were your side effects from the PCI? Memory/cognitive function affected? Hair loss? Rash? Fatigue? Thank you
2. Richard Faust Community Admin
 Hi vikkr. I can't personally speak about PCI, but if you look at my response to Lisa from earlier in this string you will find a few links to articles on the topic, including side effects. Hope this is helpful and please feel free to let us know if you have additional questions. Best, Richard (LungCancer.net Team)
retiredrn Member
I elected to not have PCI due to my age (69) and the side effects. This was over a year ago and all my 3 month MRI Brain scans have been negative. I’m now on 6 month monitoring.