Accuracy of cytologic diagnosis and cytotyping of sputum in primary lung cancer: analysis of 161 cases.

Sputum cytologic examination is still an important method for diagnosing lung cancer, and it is simple to perform. The present report is an analysis of 161 cases of primary lung cancer proved by thoracotomy. A detection rate of 73.3% in sputum and 84.5% in combination with other cytologic methods have been obtained. Cytotyping accuracy as compared with histologic classification in 105 cases was 79.0%. The importance of examining more than three sputum samples from a patient with suspected lung cancer is stressed.