Basaloid carcinoma of the lung: a really dismal histologic variant?
BACKGROUND
Basaloid carcinoma of the lung has been reported as an uncommon and highly aggressive form of nonsmall cell lung cancers. Even in stage I and II of basaloid carcinoma, a 5-year survival rate of only 15% has been reported and it has been suggested that different treatment modalities for basaloid carcinoma should be considered. The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic implications of a basaloid carcinoma of the lung.


METHODS
This study included a series of 291 surgically resected lung tumors, which were originally diagnosed as a poorly or undifferentiated carcinoma, a small cell carcinoma, or an atypical carcinoid. Of these, 35 basaloid carcinoma patients were identified and compared with 167 poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (PDSC) patients in terms of the preoperative clinical data, the procedure performed, and the survival outcome.


RESULTS
The overall incidence of basaloid carcinoma was 4.8%. The actuarial 5-year survival rate was 40.6% in patients with PDSC and 36.5% in those with basaloid carcinoma (p = 0.86). In stage I and II patients, the actuarial 5-year survival rate was 53.9% in the PDSC group and 57.2% in the basaloid group (p = 0.97). There were no differences in the recurrence rate and the relapse pattern (p = 0.584). Cox's proportional hazards model revealed that an age equal to 60 years old (hazard ratio 2.179, p = 0.000) and an advanced stage (hazard ratio 2.264, p = 0.000) were the risk factors for postoperative survival in both groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Basaloid carcinoma of the lung does not have a worse prognosis than the other nonsmall cell lung cancers. Although it is obvious that a basaloid carcinoma is a unique histologic entity, it does not require a different treatment modality due to the similar clinical behavior with other nonsmall cell lung cancers.
Kim
Dae Joon
DJ
Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Kim
Kil Dong
KD
Shin
Dong Hwan
DH
Ro
Jae Y
JY
Chung
Kyung Young
KY
D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate