REVISIT OF PRIMARY MALIGNANT NEOPLASMS OF THE TRACHEA - CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND SURVIVAL ANALYSIS

A clinical review with an analysis of prognostic factors, including cl inical characteristics, histological classifications, presenting sympt oms/signs and treatment modalities, was conducted in 67 patients with primary malignant neoplasms of the trachea who were seen at the Vetera ns General Hospital-Taipei between 1979 and 1994, The incidence of tra cheal cancer was 140 times less than lung cancer during this period. D elayed diagnosis of more than 6 months after onset of symptoms occurre d in one-third of the patients owing to lack of specific symptoms/sign s indicative of tracheal disease. Epidermoid carcinoma was the most fr equent histological type encountered and accounted for half of the cas es. Surgical resection was the first choice of treatment for all patie nts if the disease was locally confined, except for small cell carcino ma and lymphoma, Radiotherapy was given if the patient was not suitabl e for surgery. Single and multivariate analyses showed that clinical s ymptoms and signs were not related to prognosis, except for general ma laise and acute respiratory failure, Patients suffering from adenoid c ystic carcinoma and mucoepidermoid carcinoma had a better prognosis th an other histological diagnoses, Whether the patient received radiothe rapy or not proved to be a significant prognostic factor in the patien ts, Patients with tracheal cancers had a poorer prognosis than those w ith lung cancer.