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Lung Cancer

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Cancer

  • 128 Accesses

Synonyms

Bronchogenic carcinoma; Lung carcinoma

Definition

The term lung cancer is used for malignant epithelial tumors arising from the respiratory mucosa (bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli). Mesotheliomas, lymphomas, and stromal tumors (sarcomas) are distinct from epithelial lung cancers.

Characteristics

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide with over 1 million deaths each year. The disease is largely preventable as the majority of cases are attributable to smoking. However, global statistics estimate that 15 % of lung cancer cases in men and 53 % in women occur in never smokers.

The 5-year overall lung cancer survival rate (15 %) has nearly doubled in the past 30 years as a result of advances in combined-modality treatment with surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Thus, primary carcinoma of the lung is a major health problem with a generally poor prognosis.

Pathology

Four major cell types make up 88 % of all primary lung neoplasms according to the World...

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References

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See Also

  • (2012) Adenocarcinoma. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 48. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_84

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  • (2012) Allele. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 137. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_6570

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  • (2012) Autocrine. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 311. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_468

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  • (2012) Carcinogen. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 644. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_839

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  • (2012) FHIT. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 1394. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_2168

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  • (2012) Large cell carcinoma. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 1980. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3280

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  • (2012) Loss of heterozygosity. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, pp 2075–2076. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3415

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  • (2012) MTOR. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 2384. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3867

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hamon Center for therapeutic Oncology Research and Departments of Pathology, Internal Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA

    Adi F. Gazdar & John D. Minna

Authors
  1. Adi F. Gazdar
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  2. John D. Minna
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adi F. Gazdar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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Gazdar, A.F., Minna, J.D. (2014). Lung Cancer. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_3434-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_3434-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

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