Critères diagnostiques et facteurs pronostiques des carcinomes neuroendocrines à grandes cellules broncho-pulmonaires

Neuroendocrine large cell carcinoma of the lung is a rare tumor, identified by the WHO in 1999 whose histological diagnosis remains difficult. Diagnostic criteria as well as phenotypical and molecular characteristics are specified. Main differential diagnoses involve small cell carcinoma and sometimes the other subtypes of non small cell lung carcinoma. The overall prognosis is bad, close to the ones observed in small cell carcinoma. Treatment of this entity remains controversial, with an approach often close to the small cell carcinoma, but the role of adjuvant therapy should be evaluated in large prospective randomized trials.