Objective: We studied the clinical feature of pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma.
Patients: Of 1,073 patients underwent the resection of lung cancer in our hospital, 15 patients (1.4%) had primary pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma.
Results: All patients were male, and the age was ranged from 57 to 83, mean 70.3 years old. The mean Brinkman Index was 1,028.7. Thirteen patients underwent the lobectomy with lymph node dissection, 1 patient underwent the bilobectomy with lymph node dissection, and the wedge resection was done for the remaining one. Four patients were in stage IA, 5 were in stage IB, 2 were in stage IIB, 1 was in stage IIIA, 2 were in stage IIIB, and 1 was in stage IV. Histologically, the vascular invasion was showed in 8 of 15 patients. The recurrence was occurred on 9 patients, from 1 to 20 months after surgery. The site of recurrence was lung in 3 patients, brain in 3, and abdominal lymphnodes, subcutaneous soft tissue of shoulder, carcinomatous pleurisy was observed in one patient each. The 1-year survival was 62.5% , and the 3-year survival was 46.9%. Conclusion : The prognosis for pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma is poor. More meticulous follow up is necessary for patients with pleomorphic carcinoma than those with common non-small cell carcinoma.