Outcome of carcinoma in situ and early invasive carcinoma of the bronchus.

Seventeen patients in whom a squamous carcinoma in situ of the bronchus had been resected have been followed for up to 16 years. The crude mortality rate for these patients is remarkably high, with seven (41%) dead after five years and 14 (82%) after 10 years. Half the patients had died as a direct result of malignant disease by 10 years--because of recurrence, metastatic disease, or the development of a second tumour. A guarded long-term prognosis must be given in these patients owing to the many deaths (mainly from other respiratory diseases) besides those from recurrent cancer.