Lung cancer complicated by silicosis: a clinical and histopathological study

A clinicopathological analysis was carried out on 16 cases of lung cancer complicated by silicosis, which were diagnosed from April 1975 to March 1983, and the results were discussed with a review of the literature. All of the patients were male, and a smoking habit with a Brinkman index of more than 500 was found in 14 of them (87.5%). Twelve cases (75.0%) had advanced tumors of clinical stages III and IV, suggesting that the early detection of lung cancer complicated by silicosis is difficult. Tumors were uniformly found in all lobes of the lung. Histological types were mainly epidermoid or undifferentiated carcinoma, with very few adenocarcinomas. Carcinogens from smoking seemed to be responsible for the carcinogenesis. Two cases were thought to be scar carcinomas.