Sarcomatoid carcinomas of the lung: a clinicopathologic review

Abstract

Sarcomatoid carcinomas (SC) of the lung are the most common pulmonary neoplasms that exhibit a composition by spindled or pleomorphic tumor cells. As such, many of them may be confused easily with true sarcomas diagnostically unless special immunohistological or ultrastructural analyses are performed. Reactivity is expected for keratin, epithelial membrane antigen, or collagen type IV in the sarcomalike elements in SC, although it may be focal. Electron microscopy often shows the presence of junctional complexes between tumor cells, with or without pericellular basal lamina and cytoplasmic skeins of intermediate filaments. Current terminological preferences are such that several formerly used terms--including "spindle-cell carcinoma," "pulmonary blastoma," "squamous cell carcinoma with pseudosarcomatous stroma," "pseudosarcoma," and "carcinosarcoma"--are now encompassed by the more generic designation of "sarcomatoid carcinoma." The clinical course of patients with this neoplasm is aggressive, with an overall 5-year survival rate approximating 20%.