[Prognostic elements in bronchial carcinoma]

In spite of improvements in diagnosis and treatment, the fatal prognosis of lung cancer has persisted over the course of 25 years in a series of nearly 4000 patients. Only 30% (1149 cases) were operable, and on 23% of those resected (i.e. 7% of the total) survived for 5 years. An assessment is made of the relationship between survival and sex, age, tumour size and site, radiological picture, stage of invasiveness, type of surgery and degree of radicality, histological picture, and number of circulating lymphocytes. Age, sex and the type of resection (lobectomy or pneumonectomy) had no relation to prognosis. Palliative surgery was always associated with a fatal prognosis, as were cases with invasion of the chest wall, or, more particularly, with oat cell cancers. The outlook was more favourable in cases where radical treatment was given, in cases of squamous cancer, as opposed to other histological types, in those in stage 1 (Am. Joint Committee classification), and those with greater than 2000/mm3 lymphocytes--especially in adenocarcinomas.