Cytologic Findings in Giant Cell Carcinoma of the Lung

Abstract

Cytologic examination was made of 10 cases of giant cell carcinoma of the lung confirmed histologically and electron-microscopically. Seven cases with a central type tumor showed positive cells in sputum. Three cases with a peripheral type tumor showed no positive cells in sputum and specimens obtained by the TV-brushing method.
Exfoliated cancer cells of giant cell carcinoma in sputum, bronchial smear and pleural effusion showed an uneven dispersed distribution or a loose cobblestone-like arrangement. No marked anisokaryosis was observed. Occasionally tumor cells were found in nectrotic substances. The tumor cells were round or polygonal in shape, the cytoplasm was abundant and contained some vacuoles of different sizes, the nuclei of tumor cells were round or polygonal, the nuclear borders were smooth, chromatin was finely or coarsely granular, the nucleoli were large or small. Occasionally, cannibalism or the presence of multinucleated giant cells was seen in smear.