BACKGROUNDTo arrive at a rational diagnosis and effective surgical treatment of primary pulmonary low-grade malignant carcinoma.

METHODSEighty-nine patients with primary pulmonary low-grade malignant carcinoma received surgical treatment from 1956 to 2000.

RESULTSOut of the 89 patients, 54 were bronchial carcinoid, 18 were mucoepidermoid cancer, and 17 were adenoid cystic carcinoma. The operative procedures included resection of tracheal carcinoma in 3, lobectomy in 49, sleeve lobectomy in 14, total pneumonectomy in 14, and wedge pneumonectomy in 6. All patients were complaint free. The 5-year survival rates of bronchial carcinoid and adenoid cystic carcinoma were 91.3% and 70.6% respectively, and no patients with bronchial mucoepidermoid cancer died until now.

CONCLUSIONSBronchial carcinoid, adenoid cystic carcinoma and mucoepidermoid cancer are a series of primary pulmonary carcinoma of low malignant potential, whose predilection sites are main or lobe bronchi, and clinical symptoms are repeated infection of the lung or intermittent hemoptysis. The diagnosis depends on radiography or CT scan of chest and bronchofiberscopy. The operation is most important, and whose procedure is lobectomy or sleeve lobectomy mainly.