Relationship between survival and histologic type in small cell anaplastic carcinoma of the lung.

Survival and histologic subtype were compared in 61 patients with small cell anaplastic lung cancer. Patients with lymphocyte-like (oat cell) and fusiform histologies treated with chemotherapy had longer median survivals than the polygonal and other varieties on the same treatment. Likewise, when detectable disease was confined to the chest and supraclavicular nodes, the patients with lymphocyte-like and fusiform types lived longer. The improved survival in the lymphocyte-like and fusiform categories accounted for most of our improved overall median survival rates with the COPP regimen in small cell lung cancer. Survival in the polygonal and other types was not appreciably different from that seen in non-small cell lung cancer (squamous and adenocarcinoma). It may be possible to refine treatment plans on the basis of cell type so as to further increase survival in small cell anaplastic lung carcinoma.