Seventy‐four patients with lung cancer, resected consecutively from April 1989 to August 1990, were divided into (1) 21 with diploid tumors having a single G0/G1 peak and a coefficient of variation (CV) of 4.9 or less, (2) 18 with peridiploid tumors having a single G0/G1 peak and a CV at 5.0 or more, and (3) 35 with aneuploid tumors having multiple G0/G1 peaks. Aneuploid tumors had higher frequencies of lymphatic invasion and metastasis to the mediastinal lymph nodes. To evaluate the relationship between ploidy tumor status and immunologic competence of the regional lymph nodes, histologic findings and the proportion of killer T‐lymphocytes were examined in the dissected lymph nodes. Aneuploid tumors had significantly lower proportions of paracortical hyperplasia and killer T‐lymphocytes than did diploid and peridiploid ones in the nonmetastatic lymph nodes of N0 and N1 disease. These findings suggest the possibility that a decline in the antitumor competence of these lymph nodes could cause metastasis to the nodes. The recurrence rates were 19% in diploid, 33% in peridiploid, and 54% in aneuploid tumors, and the %year survival rates were 87%, 78%, and 44%, respectively. Peridiploid tumors showed intermediate values between diploid and aneuploid in terms of immunologic competence, recurrence rate, and survival. They were assumed to have a different proportion of aneuploid cells than the other two.

The first case of a pure primary yolk-sac tumor of the lung is presented. The tumor developed in the right upper lobe of a 31-year-old man; preoperatively, the serum alpha-fetoprotein concentration was elevated. Treatment consisted of pulmonary segmentectomy with postoperative combination chemotherapy. The patient is alive and well 13 months after surgery with a normal serum alpha-fetoprotein concentration.

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Forty-six cases of resected lung cancer, including 20 cases at Stages I and II and 26 cases at Stage III (N2), were subdivided into two groups: a good prognosis group with a longer survival period and a poor prognosis group in which the patients died earlier of the cancer. From paraffin-embedded lymph node tissues of these patients, the authors examined DNA histogram pattern and DNA content, using flow cytometry, and histologic hyperplasia of germinal center and paracortical area; they also evaluated their correlation with the prognosis. In the good prognosis group at Stages I and II, paracortical hyperplasia (PH) of the lymph nodes was observed significantly more frequently. In the good prognosis group at Stage III, the incidence of PH, G2M phase in the DNA histograms, and DNA content were all significantly higher. DNA content was positively correlated with the grade of PH.