A 70-year-old man has smoked for years despite a chronic productive cough. One day, he notices blood in his sputum and goes to see his physician. A chest x-ray reveals a mass in the left lung, which is biopsied during a fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Assuming that this patient’s cancer is etiologically related to his smoking, which of the following diagnoses are most likely to be returned by the pathology laboratory?
Correct Answer: Small cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma
Description: Smoking does not increase the risk of all types of lung cancers to the same degree. Oat (small) cell carcinoma has a very strong association with smoking, with only 1% of cases occurring in nonsmokers. Squamous cell carcinoma is also strongly associated with smoking, because smoking predisposes for squamous metaplasia, a precancerous condition. The association of smoking with bronchogenic adenocarcinoma and with bronchioloalveolar carcinoma is much weaker.
Category:
Pathology
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