Clinicopathological Profile of Lung Cancer Patients in a Teaching Hospital in South India

Introduction: Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer related deaths in the world. The incidence of lung cancer is increasing in India and there is a need to understand the natural history of this disease. Aim of the study: To study the clinico- pathological- radiological profile of patients diagnosed with lung cancer from January 2013 to May 2015 at a tertiary care teaching hospital. Materials and Methods: Inpatient records of all patients admitted during the study period were examined and  all patients with a histologically proven diagnosis of bronchogenic carcinoma were recruited. Demographic characteristics, clinical, radiological and pathological details of each patient were recorded. Results: Fifty four patients with lung cancer were identified. Forty three (79.6%) were male and 11 (20.4%) were female. Thirty two (59.7%) were smokers and 22 (40.7%) were non smokers. Cough and expectoration (61.1%) was the most common presenting symptom followed by breathlessness (59.3%). Mass lesion (81.5%) was the most common radiological presentation and adenocarcinoma (42.6%) was the most common histological subtype. When compared to fiber optic bronchoscopy, image guided percutaneous biopsy had a better  yield for diagnosing lung cancer (51.9% vs 48.1%). But this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.892) Conclusion: Adenocarcinoma is replacing squamous cell carcinoma as the most common type of lung cancer in India.