Giant Cell Carcinoma of the Lung: Management of Surgical Treatment

Objectives: Pulmonary giant cell carcinoma (PGCC) is a histological type of nonsmall cell lung cancer and classified as one of the five subtypes of sarcomatoid carcinoma of the lung. Pure PGCC is very rare. Material and Method: We represent our experience in the management of 7 patients (6 males and 1 female, with a range of 44-63 yr) with PGCC. The most representing symptoms were cough and hemoptysis. Upper lobectomy (n=7) and additionally mediastinal lymphadenectomy were performed in all patients. Results: Definitive histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of PGCC in all cases. Even though there was no perioperative mortality, postoperative complications developed in a case were hemorrhage in the early perioperative period and bronchus fistula after two months from the operation. The mean survival of the patients was estimated as 28.8 months (38 days - 116 months). Conclusion: The main treatment for PGCC is the complete surgical resection. Complete surgical resection was found to be usefull as a treatment of choice of PGCC in the early stage and contributed to survival