Prognostic comparison between peripheral and central types of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung in patients undergoing surgical resection

In order to define whether the location of the tumor [peripheral (P) or central (C)] may have some influence on the prognosis for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, we analyzed 235 patients under 80 years of age (P-group = 129, C-group = 106) who had undergone surgical resection between January 1985 and December 1997. There was no significant difference in the prognosis between the two groups with stages I(0)-IIIB of the disease. We concluded that as a whole the location of the tumor may not have significant influence on the prognosis in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung undergoing surgical resection.