[Multiple primary bronchial carcinoma. A case report of three separate synchronous primary cancers and a review of literature].

Fibreoptic bronchoscopy was performed in 677 patients with primary bronchial carcinoma during a period from October 1978 to January 1988. In one of them three separate synchronous bronchial carcinomas were found in the lungs. Two of these tumours were radiographically occult. The diagnoses of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung were verified histologically by materials obtained at fibreoptic bronchoscopy. This finding emphasizes the importance of careful bronchoscopic examination of the whole bronchial tree before surgical treatment of lung cancer. The literatures of 41 cases with multiple primary bronchial carcinoma were reviewed.