Malignant epithelial tumours of lung

Epithelial malignancies of lung are typically heterogeneous2.

The current WHO classification for malignant epithelial tumours of lung makes a number of amendments to the 1981 classification1:

• It includes diffuse idiopathic pulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia and atypical adenomatous hyperplasia alongside squamous dysplasia / squamous carcinoma in situ as pre-invasive lesions.

• Large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma is recognized as a histologically high-grade non small cell carcinoma showing both histopathological and immunohistochemical features of neuroendocrine differentiation .

• It includes the basaloid variant of large cell carcinoma, with a dismal prognosis.

• A new class was defined, carcinoma with pleomorphic, sarcomatoid, or sarcomatous elements, bringing together a number of proliferations characterized by a spectrum of epithelial to mesenchymal differentiation.

References

1 Brambilla E, Travis WD, Colby TV, et al. The new World Health Organization classification of lung tumours. Eur Respir J 2001; 18:1059-68

2 Roggli VL, Vollmer RT, Greenberg SD, et al. Lung cancer heterogeneity: a blinded and randomized study of 100 consecutive cases. Hum Pathol 1985; 16:569-79

This page last revised 13.6.2005.

©SMUHT/PW Bishop