[Carcinoid tumours of the lung and definition of the medico-legal term "lung cancer" used in the list of occupational disease in Germany--results of the German Mesothelioma Register].
Carcinoid tumours are considered to be malignant epithelial tumours according to the recent WHO classification. This study is based on the examinations of tissue from 108 patients with carcinoid tumours. Our data agree with those of other studies: carcinoid tumours developed mainly in the right lung (40 %) and the lower lobe (30 %), mean age was 56 years, typical carcinoid tumours (74 %) predominated, comparatively high proportion of females (32 %), the mean latency period after asbestos exposure - assuming asbestos as one causal factor - was 35 years. A higher incidence of carcinoid tumours (1.3 %) in the collective of the mesothelioma register compared to the incidence in the collective of all lung carcinomas (1 - 2 %) was not observed. The increased pulmonary asbestos burden analysed in 26 % of patients is explained by the exposure-dependent selection of patients in the register. So far, no association between smoking habits or exposure to other, i. e., occupational pollutions and the development of carcinoid tumours could be established. In the list of occupational diseases (No. 4104) the term "lung cancer" is used without further specification. Thus the following question remains open for discussion: does the term "lung cancer" include carcinoid tumours such as malignant epithelial lung tumours, or is it restricted to the common subtypes such as small cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, large cell carcinoma with regard to occupational disease and compensation?
Neumann
V
V
Deutsches Mesotheliomregister am Institut für Pathologie der Ruhr-Universität Bochum am Berufsgenossenschaftlichen Universitätsklinikum Bergmannsheil, Bochum. Volker.Neumann@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
Fischer
M
M
Tannapfel
A
A
D002276:Carcinoid Tumor / Q000145:classification* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000145:classification* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012042:Registries; D009626:Terminology as Topic