Abstract
Introduction Among malignant diseases, lung carcinoma is the most common cancer in men worldwide
in terms of both incidence and mortality. Its increasing incidence in developing countries
like India is an important public health problem. This work aimed to study the demographic,
clinical, radiological, and histological features of patients with confirmed lung
cancer.
Materials and Methods A total of 50 patients with histologically confirmed lung cancer at a tertiary care
center in India from August 2016 to September 2018 were studied and analyzed.
Results Out of 50 diagnosed lung cancer patients, 86% were men and 14% women; 31 (62%) patients
were aged more than 60 years. Majority were smokers (84%) and all were men. Cough
(94%) was the most common presenting symptom followed by dyspnea (68%), chest pain
(48%), and hemoptysis (38%). Of the 50 patients, 29 (58%) had soft tissue density
mass lesion on radiograph. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was the diagnosed histological
cell type in 24 (48%) patients and adenocarcinoma in 21 (42%) patients. Distant metastasis
was observed in 20 (40%) patients.
Conclusion In this study, the most common histopathological cell type is SCC. Patients aged
more than 50 years and smokers are at high risk of lung cancer. Patients with a smoking
history and persistent respiratory symptoms should be promptly evaluated for lung
malignancy.
Keywords
lung cancer - smoking - India
