Clonality analysis of different histological components in combined small cell and non-small cell carcinoma of the lung.

Combined small cell and non-small cell carcinoma is relatively rare in the lung. Examination of the clonal relationship of different components in this type of tumor may give a clue to the rarity. We retrieved 6 such tumors; all 6 had small cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma components, and 3 had an additional squamous cell carcinoma component. We examined the point mutations in the p53 gene and allelic loss (ie, the loss of heterozygosity [LOH] pattern) of chromosome 3p in each component. p53 mutations were detected in the small cell carcinoma component of 5 tumors and in the non-small cell carcinoma components of 2 tumors. In 1 case, the squamous cell carcinoma component had a p53 mutation locus identical to that in the small cell carcinoma component, but in the other case, the adenocarcinoma component had a different mutation than that in the small cell carcinoma component. Chromosome 3p LOH loci in the squamous cell carcinoma component were present in the small cell carcinoma component in all 3 cases, but some LOH loci were not identical in the small cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma components in 3 cases. These results suggest that the small cell and squamous cell carcinoma components of combined small cell lung carcinomas have an intimate clonal relationship. On the other hand, the adenocarcinoma component often may be derived from a separate clone or, more likely, undergo a progressive process separate from the squamous cell-small cell carcinoma beginning in a very early stage, that is, before the appearance of p53 and chromosome 3p abnormalities. This tumorigenesis process may explain the relative rarity of combined small cell and non-small cell carcinoma, which occurs primarily in the peripheral lung, an infrequent site of squamous cell carcinoma.