Investigation of the Applicability of Histological Classification of Bronchial Carcinoma According to the World Health Organization
According to the World Health Organization histological classification of bronchial tumors, clear and giant cell carcinomas are two subtypes of large cell carcinoma. As clear and giant cells can also be observed in other types of bronchial carcinoma, we investigated the frequency of the finding of these cells in different histological types. The tumor size and degree of differentiation, the amount of necrosis and keratinization, and the presence of giant and clear cells were analyzed. Statistical analysis by χ2 test showed (for all classified histological types of bronchial carcinomas, except small cell carcinoma) that: 1) larger tumors had a great quantity of giant cells (P < 0.05; P < 0.01), 2) large tumors had more clear cells (P < 0.05; P < 0.01) and 3) tumors with a greater amount of necrosis had a larger number of giant and clear cells (P<0.05; P < 0.01). Findings of an identical cytological characteristic can cause some difficulty in determination of bronchial cancer.