Primary Bronchiogenic Carcinoma

Our plain-English summary of Primary Bronchiogenic Carcinoma, by A. Ochsner, J.L. Dixon, M. DeBakey (1945).

The study

• Authors: A. Ochsner, J.L. Dixon, M. DeBakey
• Published: Diseases of the Chest 11(2):97-129 March-April (1945)
• 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 1945 article on primary lung cancer ("bronchiogenic carcinoma") reviewed published reports and described the authors' own patients in New Orleans. It does not mention asbestos. Among 212,416 Charity Hospital admissions from January 1940 to January 1944, the disease was diagnosed 155 times, or 7.3 per 10,000 admissions. Of 166 patients the authors observed, 145 (87.3 per cent) were men, and the average age was fifty-one. Of 116 patients, 90 had an operation and 52 (44.8 per cent) had the whole lung removed (pneumonectomy). In those 52, cancer had spread to the mediastinal lymph nodes in 28 (53.8 per cent), and cough was present in 47 (90.3 per cent). Thirty (57.6 per cent) had worked indoors and 22 (42.3 per cent) outdoors. Of the 52 operated patients, 22 were living and 30 had died. Of 30 operations since 1941, 2 patients (6.6 per cent) died in hospital. The authors concluded that the cause is not known, but that the rise in the disease parallels the rise in smoking and that smoking is probably of etiologic importance. They also concluded that the treatment is pneumonectomy and that radiation offers only palliation.

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: Review of the published literature combined with the authors' own clinical case series (hospital admissions data and their own pneumonectomy patients); presented at a 1944 meeting
• Who was studied: Lung cancer patients at Charity Hospital, New Orleans (155 diagnoses among 212,416 admissions, January 1940 to January 1944); 166 cases observed by the authors; 116 proved cases assessed for operation; 52 patients who had total pneumonectomy
• Exposure: No asbestos or other fiber exposure was studied. The authors discussed smoking as the suspected main cause, and they reported indoor versus outdoor work among their 52 pneumonectomy patients.
• Main results:
  • Of 166 cases observed by the authors, 145 (87.3 per cent) were men and 21 (12.7 per cent) were women
  • The average age of the 166 cases was fifty-one years
  • Of 116 cases, 52 (44.8 per cent) had successful pneumonectomies, 38 (32.7 per cent) were explored and found inoperable, and 26 (22.4 per cent) were not considered suited for operation
  • In the 52 pneumonectomy cases, metastasis was found in the mediastinal nodes in 28 (53.8 per cent), was suspected in 11 (21.2 per cent), and the nodes were free in 13 (25 per cent)
  • In the 52 pneumonectomy cases, cough was present in 47 (90.3 per cent)
  • Of the 52 pneumonectomy patients, 30 (57.6 per cent) worked indoors and 22 (42.3 per cent) worked outside. The authors stated that outdoor occupations play no role.
  • Of the authors' 52 pneumonectomy patients, 22 (42.3 per cent) were living and 30 (57.7 per cent) were dead
  • Since 1941, 30 patients had total pneumonectomy, with 2 hospital deaths (6.6 per cent)
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the cause of primary bronchiogenic carcinoma is not known, but that its increase parallels the increased frequency of smoking, which probably is of etiologic importance. They also concluded that the treatment is pneumonectomy and that irradiation offers only palliation.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Carcinoma, Lung Cancer, Pneumonectomy, Mediastinal Lymph Nodes.

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