Bronchial tumors (which are slow-growing cancers in the trachea or large
bronchi, the large airways of the lung), are most often carcinoid tumors
in children. Symptoms include cough and spitting up blood, and can
sometimes be confused with asthma symptoms like wheezing, resulting in
delayed diagnosis. Primary treatment is surgery to remove the tumor and
lymph nodes and vessels where cancer may spread. The prognosis for most
bronchial tumors in children is excellent, even when the cancer has spread
to nearby areas. Rarely, carcinoid tumors develop as aggressive(fast-growing)
cancers that are more likely to spread to other areas of the body by the
time they are diagnosed. For bronchial carcinoid tumors, neither
chemotherapy nor radiation therapy is indicated, unless evidence of
metastasis (spread of cancer to other areas of the body) is documented.
Cancers that begin in the epithelial cells that line the surface of the
lung are rare, and tend to be advanced when they are diagnosed. The
outcome for epithelial cancers of the lung depends on how the cells look
under a microscope and the stage of the cancer.
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