Pathology and survival in operable cases of giant-cell carcinoma of the lung

SYNOPSis Giant-cell carcinoma of the lung is usually rapidly fatal and nearly all of the published cases have been described on the basis of postmortem findings. The surgical specimens from three resected giant-cell carcinomas are described and the subsequent courses of the patients are sum-marized. A further nine surgically treated cases have been found in the literature. Giant-cell carcinoma of the lung is thought to be an anaplastic variant of adenocarcinoma and its aggressive behaviour is a reflection of its degree of anaplasia. Despite the aggressive behaviour of this type of cancer, patients may survive for many years if the tumour is resected. Giant-cell carcinoma of the lung is generally con-sidered to be a particularly lethal form of cancer. The first detailed account of this type of tumour is that of Nash and Stout (1958) and the literature now includes over a 100 cases. However, Hadley and Bullock (1953) appear to be the first authors to use the term 'giant cell ' carcinoma; they reviewed a series of 84 carcinomas of the lung and classifie