Changing incidence of adenocarcinoma of the lung: a brief review

The autopsy of lung cancer at Hines Veterans Administration Hospital was reviewed for a 27-year period, between 1957 and 1983. There has been a changing histologic pattern with a recent increase in adenocarcinoma and a relative decrease of the other cell types. This observation, based on a virtually all-male patient population, is partly attributed to better and improved diagnostic procedures.