Mixed small cell and non-small cell lung cancer.

Seventeen (10 percent) of 176 patients with small-cell carcinoma of the lung seen at this hospital since 1976 proved to have mixed small-cell and non-small-cell tumors. The presence of a mixed lung cancer was established prior to chemotherapy or irradiation in nine patients. Eight were initially diagnosed as pure small-cell carcinoma but proved to have a mixed tumor at either surgery or autopsy. Of the 17 patients, eight received chemotherapy, and four had a partial response. Six of the 40 autopsies performed on patients with small-cell lung cancer demonstrated intrathoracic tumor which was histologically mixed. Extrathoracic metastases in these patients were heterogeneous and included pure small-cell, pure non-small-cell, and mixed histologic type. We conclude that mixed small-cell and non-small-cell lung cancers are relatively frequent and carry important prognostic and therapeutic implications. Clinical management of patients with small-cell lung cancer should therefore be flexible and tailored to the potential for histologic diversity. Mixed lung cancer in previously untreated patients suggests a common endodermal origin for small-cell and non-small-cell pulmonary tumors.