What are the different types of lung cancer?

The great majority (>95%) of primary malignant tumors of the lung are bronchogenic carcinomas. This term implies that the cancers arise in the walls of the bronchi.

There are many different types of bronchogenic carcinoma (lung cancer), determined by the cell type from which the tumor originates and the appearance of the tumor under the microscope.

The two most common varieties are the small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and the non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The distinction is important, because the two types have important differences in clinical behavior and treatment.

SCLC is less common, making up about 20% of lung cancers. It arises from neuroendocrine Kulschitzky cells in the walls of the bronchi. It is usually very fast growing, and usually metastasizes early in it's existence. For this reason, SCLC is seldom curable by surgery. Fortunately, effective chemotherapy exists for SCLC.

NSCLC makes up approximately 80% of lung cancers. It is subdivided into a number of sub-types including,

  1. adenocarcinoma,
  2. squamous cell carcinoma,
  3. large cell undifferentiated carcinoma and
  4. bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BACA) . The first three arise in the lining cells of the bronchi, and BACA arises in the lining cells of the terminal arborization of the bronchi, and the alveoli NSCLC often grow more slowly than SCLC and metastasize later, Thus, there is a window of opportunity and they are sometimes curable by surgical resection or radiation therapy, if they can be discovered early enough.

    There is currently no curative chemotherapy for NSCLC.

    There are a number of other lung cancers that occur less frequently. Included in this group are

    • carcinoid tumor
      1. typical
      2. atypical
    • adenoid cystic carcinoma
    • mucoepidermoid carcinoma
    • pulmonary blastoma
    • pulmonary sarcoma
    • lymphoepithelial carcinoma

Pulmonary Pathology Index WebPath is an excellent resource to look at gross and microscopic images of various types of lung cancer and other lung diseases. Images vary between 40 and 150Kbytes. Some representative gross and microscopic images at this site are