Chapter 26 Lung cancer
Pathological features
Primary lung cancers are almost always carcinomas, although other tumours such as malignant lymphomas may exceptionally originate within the lung. Lung carcinomas are often macroscopically obvious tumours several centimetres in size, although sometimes primary lung carcinomas a few millimetres across may give rise to widely disseminated malignancy. The most common histological types of lung carcinoma are small cell and non-small cell types, with the latter subdivided into squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma and undifferentiated carcinoma. Mixtures between all histological types is not uncommonly seen. The tumours may invade local structures, metastasize via lymphatic channels to regional or distant lymph nodes and via the blood to distant sites (Fig. 3.26.1).
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