[Basal cell (basaloid) carcinoma of the bronchi]

Basal cell carcinomas (BCC) have been described in various locations such as skin, anal canal, tongue, larynx and recently the lungs. These tumors seem to have a poor prognosis. A series of 115 surgically resected lung tumors, previously classified as poorly or undifferentiated carcinoma was retrospectively reviewed. From those 37 cases were reclassified as BCC and were compared in terms of clinical features and survival with 40 cases reclassified as poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (PDSC) of the lung. There was no difference between the groups with respect to age, clinical presentation, pattern of relapse and cause of death. Median and overall survival were different between the 2 groups, especially for stage I and II patients: 5 years actuarial survival in BCC was 15% and in PDSC 47% p = 0.009). There was also a difference in survival when we studied the patients alive 4 weeks after surgery (p = 0.04). This subset of non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has a worse prognosis than other NSCLC.