P3.01-020 Evolving Trends in Lung Cancer Pathology: Topic: Morphology

Abstract

The Danish Lung Cancer Registry has since 2003 reported all cases of lung cancer in Denmark including the pathology. We present the trends over time in the distribution of subgroups of pathology. All Danish lung cancer patients are ascertained based on coded information in the National Patient Register. Supplementary information for each patient is obtained from the clinical units as well as from the National Pathology Register (NPR). Based on SNOMED coding the patients is categorized in 12 subgroups of lung cancer. Figure 1Trends in lung cancer pathology (%)View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download (PPT) The increased number of lung cancer falls mainly in the adenocarcinoma group. Moreover, there is a significant relative increase of adenocarcinomas corresponding with a decrease of patients with NOS and NSCC. The occurrences of the other categories, including small cell carcinoma and squamous carcinoma, have remained largely unchanged. The trend of adenocarcinoma as the predominate type of lung cancer is in accordance with the global evolution. The high frequency is partly due to the need for specific subtyping and the agreement of diagnostic criteria which has resulted in a shift from NOS and NSCC categories to adenocarcinoma.