Lung cancer large cell

The histological types of lung cancer seen to excess in uranium miners reflect those in the population at large (Masse, 1984). These occur almost entirely in bronchial airways. Approximately 207 are adenocarcinomas which occur in peripheral bronchioles (Spencer, 1977) where there are no basal cells. Squamous cell cancers predominate in miners exposed early in life to relatively low concentrations of radon daughters (Saccomanno et aJL., 1982). These are considered likely to arise from the secretory small mucous granular cells which undergo cell division and extend to the epithelial surface (Masse, personal communication). Division of these cells is accelerated after irritation by toxicants such as cigarette smoke or infectious diseases (Trump et a L., 1978). 

It is reasonable to conclude that dose to cells throughout the bronchial tree may contribute to the risk of lung cancer and not just the dose received by certain cells in the large central airways. It is probably also appropriate to evaluate the dose absorbed by cells throughout the depth of bronchial epithelium, i.e. the mean dose,... 

The major cell types are SCLC (-15% of all lung cancers), adenocarcinoma (-50%), squamous cell carcinoma (less than 30%), and large cell carcinoma. The last three types are grouped together and referred to as NSCLC. 

The distinction between various types of cancer found in the lung requires pathological examination (Yesner, 1978a and b). There are five major and seven minor separate categories (Yesner and Van Hoff, 1979) based on cell type, but more than 50 percent of these occur as combined forms. The range of cells involved may be from stem cells to highly differentiated adeno or squamous cells. If the carcinoma is confined to squamous cell, either smallcell (oat or lymphocyte types) or large-cell adenocarcinoma, one can confidently describe it, but usually the affected tissue contains more than one cell type in close proximity to each other. 

Besides the pure small-cell lung cancer, the mixed small-cell and large-cell carcinoma comprises less than 6% of all small-cell lung cancer, and combined SCLC/nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) comprises less than 3% of all SCLC (11-14). 

MM = multiple myeloma ATL = adult T-cell leukemia ALL = acute lymphoblastic leukemia CLL = chronic lymphocytic leukemia FCC = follicular center cell lymphoma DLC = diffuse large cell lymphoma TRB = T-cell rich B-cell lymphoma ALCL = anaplastic large cell lymphoma MALT = mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue-type lymphoma LC = lung cancer CMM = cutaneous malignant melanoma TCC = transitional cell carcinoma CSCC = cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. 

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