Dr. Sanderson describes squamous cell and large-cell undifferentiated carcinomas.
Dr. Sanderson:
Squamous cell carcinoma is one of the varieties of non-small cell lung cancer. It is based on the description microscopically and the other non-small cell types would be considered adenocarcinoma or sometimes large-cell carcinoma and then there’s some variations within those subgroups.
Large cell undifferentiated cancer is another variety of non-small cell cancer. The reason that we lump these three groups – large cell, adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma – is that they tend to all be similarly responsive to surgical resection, if they can be identified in an early stage, and they are often similar in their responses to chemotherapy and radiation.
Although more information is being learned all the time about the genetic effects that make individuals susceptible to cancer and particularly the genetic makeup of individual tumors that may respond differently to different chemotherapeutic agents.
About Dr. Sanderson, M.D.:
Dr. David R. Sanderson, M.D., practices at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, specializing in pulmonary care. Dr. Sanderson attended the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. He completed his residency and fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Visit Dr. Sanderson at Mayo Clinic