Primary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma of the lung: An unusual cancer and clinical outcomes of 14 patients

Advanced lung cancer is considered to exhibit a poor prognosis; however, the pulmonary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (LELC), a rare subtype of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), exhibits an improved prognosis, compared with non-LELC. The present study aimed at investigating the clinical manifestation, imaging characteristics, pathology, tumor markers, treatment and prognosis of primary LELC of the lung. A total of 14 patients with pulmonary LELC were confirmed by surgery and pathology. Clinical data of those patients were retrospectively reviewed including age, sex, smoking history, symptoms, computed tomography (CT) results, Epstein-Barr virus-encoded RNA (EBER) status, treatment and outcomes. In the present study, there were 7 males and 7 females who ranged in age between 22 and 64 years (mean, 51.21±11.37 years) and who all were from eastern China. The tumor-node-metastasis stage ranged between stages I and IV, with 71.43% of the patients at advanced stage (stages III and IV). The results of the present study identified 100% positive expression of EBER. Tumors located centrally were of significantly increased size, compared with peripheral tumors (P