Clinicopathological Studies of Goblet Cell Type Mucus-producing Adenocarcinoma of the Lung

Twenty-nine resected cases of goblet cell type adenocarcinoma of the lung were examined clinicopathologically. The ages of 12 males and 17 females varied from 42 to 80 years with the mean age being 63.8. Ten patients complained of cough, sputum and/or bloody sputum. There were 14 smokers and 14 non-smokers and in one case no information was available. The X-ray and macroscopic findings revealed 10 diffuse type and 19 nodular type adenocarcinomas. In the 19 nodular type cases, the carcinomas were found in both lower lobes of the lung, originating in the right lower lobe in 15 cases. Lobectomy was performed in 22 cases, bilobectomy in 5 cases, and in 1 case each, pneumonectomy and segmentectomy. Pathologically 14 cases were found to be in stage I and 15 cases were in stage N. All stage N patients had intrapulmonary metastases, and 9 of the 10 diffuse type cases were in stage N. The 5-year survival rate of nodular type (n=18) was significantly higher than that of the diffuse type (n=9, p