bronchogenic carcinoma
Meaning of bronchogenic carcinoma: An older umbrella name for lung cancer arising in the airway lining, still met in pathology reports and textbooks.
Definition of bronchogenic carcinoma
Bronchogenic carcinoma is cancer that begins in the cells lining the bronchi, the branching airways of the lung. The name covers the great majority of lung cancers, since most arise from that lining rather than from the supporting tissue or the outer covering of the lung. Modern reporting has largely replaced it with the name of the specific cell type.
What types does the name cover?
| Type | Where it tends to start | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Adenocarcinoma | Outer parts of the lung | The commonest type, and the usual type in those who never smoked |
| Squamous cell carcinoma | Central airways | Strongly linked with smoking |
| Large cell carcinoma | Anywhere | A diagnosis reached by excluding the others |
| Small cell carcinoma | Central airways | Grows and spreads fast; treated quite differently |
Why has the term fallen out of use?
Because it no longer guides anything. Treatment now depends on the cell type and, within adenocarcinoma especially, on molecular markers such as EGFR, ALK and PD-L1 that determine whether targeted drugs or immunotherapy apply. An umbrella term that groups all of these together answers none of the questions that decide management. It persists in older records, in teaching material and in the phrase bronchogenic carcinoma of the lung, where it functions as a synonym for lung cancer.
What causes it?
Tobacco smoke accounts for the large majority, and risk relates to how long a person smoked more than to how heavily. Radon gas seeping from the ground is the next contributor in many regions. Asbestos, certain metals and fumes met in industry, outdoor air pollution and previous radiation to the chest all add to it. A substantial minority of cases occur in people who never smoked, more often adenocarcinoma and more often carrying a targetable mutation.
How does it show itself?
Often late, because the lung has no pain fibers in its depths and considerable spare capacity. A cough that changes or persists, coughing blood, breathlessness, chest discomfort, repeated chest infections in the same area, hoarseness and weight loss are the usual features. This carcinoma is also found by chance on imaging arranged for another reason.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
The report described a bronchogenic carcinoma involving the right upper lobe bronchus.
Good to know
The term groups together cell types that are now treated very differently, so a current diagnosis names the specific type and its molecular markers instead.
Word origin
Where “bronchogenic carcinoma” comes from
Combines the Greek bronchos, the windpipe, with -genic from genesis, meaning origin, and karkinos, the crab, which gives carcinoma.