Sanuki Tissera

1 Introduction In Australia, lung cancer accounts for 9% of all cancer diagnoses, and in 2022, it contributed to the leading cause of all cancer deaths at 17% [1, 2]. Lung cancer has one of the lowest 5-year survival rates among all cancers at 26% [3]. Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for 15% of all lung cancer cases and is considered the most aggressive form of lung cancer, with a median survival time of 7.2 months and a 5-year survival rate of 11.1% [4, 5].

Methods This systematic review and meta-analysis was registered with PROSPERO (CRD: 42022364447) and conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines [40] (S1 Table). Inclusion criteria. The Participant, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome and Study type (PICOS) framework (S2 Table) informed the inclusion and exclusion criteria.