Biological characterization of central and peripheral primary non small cell lung cancers (NSCLC)

Background: Non Small Cell Lung Carcinomas (NSCLC) comprise 90% of all lung carcinomas. Studies have demonstrated a preferential central (bronchus-der ived) localization for squamous cells, whereas adenocarcinomas are frequent ly peripheral (bronchiolo-alveolus derived). It has been suggested that exp osure to carcinogenic insults including cigarette smoke, may induce differe nt types of tumors in different locations. Materials and Methods: Forty one NSCLC patients staged according to WHO and TNM were considered for localiz ation and biological parameters (p53 expression, cell ploidy and S-phase). Results: p53 overexpression was found more frequently in central than in pe ripheral tumors (69% vs 39%) (p = 0074). Central tumors were move aneuploid (69%) than peripheral ones (46%) (p = 0.03) No difference in smoking habit was observed in the two groups. Conclusions: Our results suggest that ther e is no apparent biological difference between these two groups of NSCLCs, and that the smoking does not play a role in either histotype determination or biological behavior.