Bronchogenic Carcinoma - Medical Progress

Our plain-English summary of Bronchogenic Carcinoma - Medical Progress, by A. Ochsner (1946).

The study

• Author: A. Ochsner
• Published: New York Medicine 2(5):19-20 March (1946)
• Type of article: Journal article
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library. The article is still under copyright, so we describe it here rather than post it.

In plain English

This 1946 'Medical Progress' article by A. Ochsner gave an overview of bronchogenic carcinoma (lung cancer), drawing on the author's own cases. The scanned text is badly damaged and many numbers cannot be read reliably. The readable text does not mention asbestos or any other cause of the disease. The author stated that the rise in lung cancer was real and not only the result of better recognition, citing autopsy studies at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. The disease was described as affecting about six men for every woman. The author called bronchoscopy the most important diagnostic method. The author recommended exploratory chest surgery when the disease was suspected but could not be proven before operation, and condemned needle (aspiration) biopsy because of the danger of implanting tumor along the needle's path. Of 260 clinically diagnosed cases, 162 were explored surgically. Removal of the lung (pneumonectomy) was possible in 98 of these, and 64 were inoperable. The author described pneumonectomy as the only treatment that could result in a cure, and attributed a fall in the operative mortality rate to teamwork and improved technique.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Narrative clinical overview ('Medical Progress' article) that includes figures from the author's own series of lung cancer cases
• Who was studied: Patients with bronchogenic carcinoma: 260 clinically diagnosed cases, of whom 98 underwent pneumonectomy. Autopsy incidence figures came from Charity Hospital, New Orleans.
• Exposure: No exposure was studied. The readable text does not mention asbestos or any cause of the disease.
• Main results:
  • The author stated that the increase in bronchogenic carcinoma was actual, not merely relative from more frequent recognition, as shown by autopsy studies at Charity Hospital, New Orleans.
  • The disease was described as occurring in approximately six males to every female.
  • Bronchoscopy was described as the most important diagnostic method. Thoracic exploration was recommended when a lesion was suspected but could not be proved before operation.
  • Aspiration (needle) biopsy was condemned because of the danger of implanting tumor along the course of the needle.
  • Of 260 clinically diagnosed cases, 162 were explored. Of the 162 explored cases, pneumonectomy was possible in 98 and 64 were inoperable.
  • The author attributed a decrease in the operative mortality rate to teamwork and development of technique.
• The authors' conclusion: The author held that the treatment of bronchogenic carcinoma is pneumonectomy, since no other method will result in a cure.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Bronchogenic Carcinoma, Lung Cancer, Autopsy, Bronchoscopy, Biopsy, Pneumonectomy.

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