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Pathology of Lung Cancer

  • Chapter
Lung Tumors

Part of the book series: UICC Current Treatment of Cancer ((1360))

Abstract

Cancer of the lung arises by neoplastic transformation of the normal lining epithelium. Tumors probably begin as a single malignant clone but rapid division and mutation result in different subpopulations and this is reflected in a wide variety of histological patterns, often suggesting differentiation in more than one direction. Nevertheless the majority of lung carcinomas are readily classified into four main types:

  • Squamous cell (epidermoid) 50%

  • carcinoma

  • Adenocarcinoma 20%

  • Large cell carcinoma 10%

  • Small cell carcinoma 20%

  • (Carcinoid 1%) The relative frequency of each type of carcinoma varies considerably between different series. Surgical series are particularly misleading because patients are selected according to operability. The incidence given above is taken from the Mayo Clinic Lung Project.

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Authors
  1. B. J. Addis
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Director Cancer Treatment Center, Bethesda Hospital, Inc., 629 Oak Street, Suite 409, Cincinnati, OH, 45206, USA

    Barth Hoogstraten

  2. Brompton Hospital Cardiothoracic Institute, Fulham Road, London, SW3 6HP, UK

    Bruce J. Addis

  3. Department of Oncology ONB, Finsen Institute, 49, Strandboulevarden, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Heine H. Hansen

  4. Thoracic Service Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY, 10021, USA

    Nael Martini

  5. Brompton Hospital, Fulham Road, London, SW3 6HP, UK

    Stephen G. Spiro

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© 1988 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Addis, B.J. (1988). Pathology of Lung Cancer. In: Hoogstraten, B., Addis, B.J., Hansen, H.H., Martini, N., Spiro, S.G. (eds) Lung Tumors. UICC Current Treatment of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-82873-7_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-82873-7_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-16920-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-82873-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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