Survival in Cancer of the Bronchus and Lung, 1949-1962: Comparison of Men and Women Patients

¹ Chief of Thoracic Service, Emeritus, Memorial Center for Cancer and Allied Diseases
² Director of Clinical Statistics, and Assistant Director, Admitting and Diagnostic Clinic, Memorial Center for Cancer and Allied Diseases

The survival experience has been reviewed for 3,124 lung cancer patients diagnosed at the Memorial and James Ewing Hospitals during the period 1949-1962. At least 40 per cent of cases demonstrated distant disease at the time of initial diagnosis and there was no indication during the later years of an increasing proportion with localized disease. While there was no significant improvement in the overall relative survival rates during this period, there was a two- to three-fold increase in the three- and five-year survival rates for both men and women with localized disease. Adenocarcinoma and terminal bronchiolar carcinoma were twice as common in the women, while epidermoid and oat cell carcinoma predominated in the men. Localized terminal bronchiolar carcinoma exhibited significant survival advantage for both men and women. Survival experience was least favorable for those patients with oat cell carcinoma and did not differ significantly for adenocarcinoma and epidermoid carcinoma. Among the surgically treated localized cases, the survival rates were consistently higher in women. Other future effects of primary and secondary preventive measures in lung cancer were assessed.