Primary carcinoma of the lung

118 patients with carcinoma of the lung seen in the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore were followed for five years. The aim was to determine the survival of these patients in relation to the stage of the disease as well as the histologic type of carcinoma. 22 patients were in stage 1, 13 in Stage II and 83 in Stage III. Thoracotomy was performed in 62 patients and the rest had biopsy of distal lymph nodes. 43.3% of the carcinoma were squamous cell, 25% adenocarcinoma, 27% large cell, anaplastic, 2.9% oat cell and 1.8% bronchoalveolar cell carcinoma. Survival of the patients were found to be closely related to stage of the disease but not with the histologic type.