Abstract:Objective To investigate the efficacy of irinotecan hydrochloride in the treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) after first-line standard regimen therapy failure and influence on the serum levels of neuron-specific enolase (NSE), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA21-1).Methods From February 2017 to February 2019, 75 patients with SCLC after first-line standard regimen therapy failure in our hospital were collected. Among them, 21 patients received only best supportive care (BSC), and 54 patients received second-line chemotherapy. 19 patients were treated with irinotecan hydrochloride alone, and 35 patients were treated with irinotecan hydrochloride plus platinum (IP) chemotherapy. The short-term efficacy, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) was followed-up. The serum NSE, CEA, and CYFRA21-1 levels were measured before and after treatment.Results The short-term objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) of the second-line chemotherapy group were 40.74% and 74.07%, which were higher than the 9.52% and 28.57% of the BSC group (P < 0.05); the median PFS and OS of the second-line chemotherapy group were 4.2 months and 11.5 months, which were longer than 2.2 months and 6.0 months in the BSC group (P < 0.05). The ORR and DCR of the single-agent irinotecan hydrochloride group were 36.84% and 68.42%, which were lower than 42.86% and 77.14% of the IP group, but the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05); the median PFS and OS of the single-agent irinotecan hydrochloride group were 3.7 months and 11.0 months, which were shorter 4.3 months and 12.2 months of the IP group, but the differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The incidence of bone marrow suppression in the single-agent irinotecan hydrochloride group was 42.11%, which was lower than 77.14% in the IP group (P < 0.05), but the incidence of other side effects was not statistically significant between the two groups (P > 0.05), and most wereⅠ, Ⅱdegree. After treatment, the decrease value of NSE, CEA, CYFRA21-1 in the irinotecan hydrochloride group and the IP group were higher than the BSC group (P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference between the the irinotecan hydrochloride group and the IP group (P > 0.05).Conclusion Irinotecan hydrochloride has high disease control rate in the treatment of SCLC after first-line standard regimen therapy failure, and the adverse reactions can be tolerated. It has better survival benefit than BSC, and may prolong PFS when combined with platinum drugs, but there is a tendency to increase side effects.