Prognosis and Survival
Taken as a class, long-term survival rates in BAC tend to be higher than those of other forms of NSCLC. BAC generally carries a better prognosis than other forms of NSCLC, which can be partially attributed to localized presentation of the disease. Though other factors might play a role. Prognosis of BAC depends upon the histological subtype and extent at presentation but are generally same as other NSCLC.
Recent research has made it clear that nonmucinous and mucinous BACs are very different types of lung cancer. Mucinous BAC is much more likely to present with multiple unilateral tumors and/or in a unilateral or bilateral pneumonic form than nonmucinous BAC. The overall prognosis for patients with mucinous BAC is significantly worse than patients with nonmucinous BAC.
Although data are scarce, some studies suggest that survival rates are even lower in the mixed mucinous/non-mucinous variant than in the monophasic forms.
In non-mucinous BAC, neither Clara cell nor Type II pneumocyte differentiation appears to affect survival or prognosis.
Read more about this topic: Bronchioloalveolar Carcinoma
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