Cytomorphometric Comparison of Small Cell Carcinoma and Large Cell Carcinoma of the Lung

Surgical specimens of large cell carcinomas and small cell carcinomas (intermediate cell type, lymphocyte-like type) of the lung, which were classified by the histologic criteria of the Japanese Lung Cancer Society, were used in this study. The longest and the shortest dimension, circumference, area, nucleus-cytoplasmic ratio, and roundness of cancer cells and nuclei were measured by a real time image processor (Nexus 6400). Concerning the mean longest dimension of cancer cells, the cells of large cell carcinomas were 2 times larger than those of the lymphocyte-like type of small cell carcinomas and those of the intermediate cell type of small cell carcinomas were 1.5 times larger. The mean area of cells in large cell carcinoma was 3.38 times greater than that of the lymphocyte-like type of small cell carcinomas. Similar relationships were recognized concerning cell nuclei. The mean nucleus-cytoplasmic ratio in large cell carcinomas was the smallest among these three types of lung cancer. There were considerable differences among large cell carcinoma, intermediate cell type, and lymphocyte-like type small cell carcinoma of the lung. These results lend support to the histologic criteria of the Japanese Lung Cancer Society.