Malignant superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) is no longer considered a medical emergency in most cases because it rarely leads to life-threatening complications. However, it results in disturbing symptoms that can significantly affect patients' quality of life. Treating this condition effectively while minimising treatment-related morbidity is of increasing importance as cancer patients are living longer from advances in oncological treatments. This clinical practice review discusses the implications of these advances on the decision to consider stenting as the initial treatment for SVCS. Stenting is increasingly popular as it provides quick symptomatic relief with low rates of complications. Systemic treatments have evolved in the past two decades with the development of immunotherapy and targeted therapies that have different response patterns compared to conventional chemotherapy. Furthermore, major changes have also been seen in radiotherapy techniques that allow treatments to better conform to targets while sparing normal tissues. These advances have changed practice patterns for stent placement in SVCS patients in both the localised and metastatic settings. Prospective studies using standardised patient-reported outcome tools are needed to determine the optimal treatment sequence for SVCS patients, as current recommendations are mainly based on retrospective single-arm studies. An individualized approach with multidisciplinary input is therefore important to optimize patient outcomes before more robust evidence is available.
Keywords: Superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS); cancer; endovascular stenting.