ObjectiveTo explore the clinical and pathological characteristics of lung carcinoma in young adults, and improve the early diagnosis and treatment.
MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed 129 patients with lung carcinoma aged from 18 to 35 years old who came to West China Hospital of Siduan University from January 1st 2008 to December 31st 2014.Also we collected 32 young adults with lung benign mass to make the comparison of the clinical and pathological characteristics with the patients.
ResultsIn the 129 patients with lung carcinoma, there were 72 females and 57 males.Adenocarcinoma (88/129) was the most common type of pathology, while others included small cell carcinoma (18/129), squamous cell carcinoma (13/129), and other types of carcinoma (10/129).Among patients with lung carcinoma, 41(31.8%) complained of refractory dry cough and another 40(31.0%) presented coughing and expectoration.Twenty-nine patients (22.5%) were misdiagnosed in their first visits.In young adults with lung carcinoma, 55.8% were at the Ⅳ stage with metastasis at the first-time diagnosis.Comparing with patients with benign lung mass, patients with lung carcinoma presented significantly more dry cough (P=0.011), chest distress (P=0.007) and weight loss (P=0.007);while fever was found more patients with lung benign mass (P=0.040).The differences in cough, expectoration, and emptysis between the two groups were not significant (P > 0.05).
ConclusionsLung carcinoma in young adults often has atypical clinical presentations.Therefore, it is more commonly misdiagnosed.
