Bronchoscopic and Histologic Features of Patients with Lung Cancer

Abstract

Introduction: Lung cancer refers to a group of diseases resulting from the abnormal growth of cells of the breathing tract, in particular of the lung tissue. Objectives: To determine the bronchoscopic and histologic features useful in the confirmation of the diagnosis of these malignant neoplasms. Methods: We carried out a descriptive and cross-sectional investigation of 346 patients with lung cancer treated in the Pulmonology Service of Dr. Juan Bruno Zayas Alfonso Teaching General Hospital in Santiago de Cuba during 2016 and 2017, to whom a bronchoscopy was performed. The variables included age, sex, diagnostic technique used, histopatologic diagnosis and most frequent localization. Results: Patients prevailed in the ages between 56 and 75 (66.1%), as well as the male sex (65.0%). The bronchial biopsy was the procedure that mostly revealed the presence of cancer (61.3%) and the most frequent histologic type was squamous cell carcinoma (67.8%). Conclusions: The importance of bronchoscopy and its diagnostic procedures was demonstrated to confirm the existence of the morbid process.