Gender and age trends of histological types of lung cancer in a 20-year period: Pathological perspective

Abstract

Purpose: To find out the trends of distribution in different histological types of lung cancer in both genders in a period of 20 years. Methods: The most frequent histological types of lung cancer in tissue specimens obtained by bronchoscopy or percutaneous needle biopsy were analysed in terms of age and gender. The studied population included 6289 patients (16.6% females and 83.1% males). Statistical significance was established by x2 test at the level p<0.05. Results: Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) prevailed in the total number of patients in all investigated years (58.0%), and separately in male (60.4%) and female (45.7%) patients. This histological type was predominant in all age groups in both genders (41.6% in males and 38.1 % in females). Conclusion: SCC has the highest incidence in Serbia. Continuous campaign against smoking and helping its cessation, improving working and socioeconomic conditions is a strategy for decreasing all histological types of lung cancer patients. © 2010 Zerbinis Medical Publications.