[Healthy subjects with malignant cells in their sputum. Apropos of 60 cases]

Sixty cases of occult carcinoma of the lung are described. A distinction is made between "revealed cases" (23 cases) in which the carcinoma revealed itself within 5 months after the first cytological findings, and true occult carcinomas (37 cases) in which lesions developed within 5 months to 8 years after the first positive cytology. Mean survival in the "revealed cases" was 13 months. It was 51 months for true occult lung carcinomas and 68.5 months for occult carcinomas treated by chemotherapy starting at the time of discovery of malignant cells in the sputum. The method of choice is selective bronchial aspirates and brushings after repeated sputum cytology which allows for localization of the lesion and early surgery.