[Clinicopathological features and prognosis of bronchial mucoepidermoid carcinoma: analysis of 21 cases].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the clinicopathological features and prognosis of bronchial mucoepidermoid carcinoma.


METHODS
Twenty-one with mucoepidermoid carcinoma, 16 males and 5 females, aged 40.8 (15 ~ 72) underwent surgical treatment, 13 cases undergoing lobectomy, 3 sleeve lobectomy, 4 pneumonectomy, and 1 case thoracic exploration, from February 1988 to June 2005. Bronchoscopy was done in all patients before operation. Follow-up was made for 68.3 months on average.


RESULTS
Most patients presented the respiratory symptoms such as cough, dyspnea, hemoptysis, and obstructive pneumonia. Biopsy examination through bronchoscopy confirmed the diagnosis of bronchial mucoepidermoid carcinoma in 16 cases. Pathology showed 17 cases of low grade tumor and 4 cases of high grade tumor. Follow-up showed that 17 cases of low-grade group (stage T(1 - 3)N(0 - 1)M(0)) all survived, 8 of which had survived for more than 5 years, including one patient with hilar lymph node metastasis. However, none of the 4 cases with high-grade tumor survived for more than 1 year except one that survived for 13 months.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with low-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma can be expected to be cured through curative resection, however, patients in high-grade group have poor prognosis because of metastasis. TNM staging, malignancy grade, and local lymph node metastasis play the key roles in prediction of prognosis.
Yu
Chang-Hai
CH
Department of Thoracic Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital, General Hospital of People's Liberation Army, Beijing, China.
Li
Jie
J
Yu
Jian-Qi
JQ
Wang
Bo
B
Wang
Tao
T
Wang
Dian-Jun
DJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001984:Bronchial Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D018277:Carcinoma, Mucoepidermoid / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis