When BAC recurs after surgery, the recurrences are local in about three-quarters of cases, a rate higher than other forms of NSCLC, which tends to recur distantly.

Smoking prevention and smoking cessation are effective ways of preventing the development of lung cancer.

The treatment of choice in any patient with BAC is complete surgical resection, typically via lobectomy or pneumonectomy, with concurrent ipsilateral lymphadenectomy.

Non-mucinous BACs are highly associated with classical EGFR mutations, and thus are often responsive to targeted chemotherapy with erlotinib and gefitinib. K-ras mutations are rare in nm-BAC.

Mucinous BAC, in contrast, is much more highly associated with K-ras mutations and wild-type EGFR, and are thus usually insensitive to the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors. In fact, there is some evidence that suggests that the administration of EGFR-pathway inhibitors to patients with K-ras mutated BACs may even be harmful.

Early stage disease is treated surgically. Targeted therapy is available for lung adenocarcinomas with certain mutations. Crizotinib is effective in tumors with fusions involving ALK or ROS1, whereas gefitinib, erlotinib, and afatinib are used in patients whose tumors have mutations in EGFR.

The prognosis of patients with FA as a whole is considered to be better than that of most other forms of non-small cell carcinoma, including biphasic pulmonary blastoma.

Tobacco smoking is by far the main contributor to lung cancer. Cigarette smoke contains at least 73 known carcinogens, including benzo["a"]pyrene, NNK, 1,3-butadiene and a radioactive isotope of polonium, polonium-210. Across the developed world, 90% of lung cancer deaths in men during the year 2000 were attributed to smoking (70% for women). Smoking accounts for about 85% of lung cancer cases.

Passive smoking—the inhalation of smoke from another's smoking—is a cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers. A passive smoker can be defined as someone living or working with a smoker. Studies from the US, Europe and the UK have consistently shown a significantly increased risk among those exposed to passive smoke. Those who live with someone who smokes have a 20–30% increase in risk while those who work in an environment with secondhand smoke have a 16–19% increase in risk. Investigations of sidestream smoke suggest it is more dangerous than direct smoke. Passive smoking causes about 3,400 deaths from lung cancer each year in the USA.

Marijuana smoke contains many of the same carcinogens as those in tobacco smoke. However, the effect of smoking cannabis on lung cancer risk is not clear. A 2013 review did not find an increased risk from light to moderate use. A 2014 review found that smoking cannabis doubled the risk of lung cancer.

Because of its extreme rarity, there have been no controlled clinical trials of treatment regimens for FA and, as a result, there are no evidence-based treatment guidelines. Complete surgical resection is the treatment of choice in FA, as it is in nearly all forms of lung cancer.

Anecdotal reports suggest that FA is rarely highly sensitive to cytotoxic drugs or radiation. Case reports suggest that chemotherapy with UFT may be useful in FA.

Nearly 40% of lung cancers in the US are adenocarcinoma, which usually originates in peripheral lung tissue. Most cases of adenocarcinoma are associated with smoking; however, among people who have smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes in their lifetimes ("never-smokers"), adenocarcinoma is the most common form of lung cancer. Its incidence has been increasing in many developed Western nations in the past few decades, where it has become the most common major type of lung cancer in smokers (replacing squamous cell lung carcinoma) and in lifelong nonsmokers. According to the Nurses' Health Study, the risk of adenocarcinoma of the lung increases substantially after a long duration of previous tobacco smoking, with a previous smoking duration of 30 to 40 years giving a relative risk of approximately 2.4 compared to never-smokers, and a duration of more than 40 years giving a relative risk of approximately 5.

This cancer usually is seen peripherally in the lungs, as opposed to small cell lung cancer and squamous cell lung cancer, which both tend to be more centrally located, although it may also occur as central lesions. For unknown reasons, it often arises in relation to peripheral lung scars. The current theory is that the scar probably occurred secondary to the tumor, rather than causing the tumor. The adenocarcinoma has an increased incidence in smokers, and is the most common type of lung cancer seen in non-smokers and women. The peripheral location of adenocarcinoma in the lungs may be due to the use of filters in cigarettes which prevent the larger particles from entering the lung. Deeper inhalation of cigarette smoke results in peripheral lesions that are often the case in adenocarcinomas of the lung. Generally, adenocarcinomas grow more slowly and form smaller masses than the other subtypes. However, they tend to form metastases widely at an early stage. Adenocarcinoma is a non-small cell lung carcinoma, and as such, it is not as responsive to radiation therapy as is small cell lung carcinoma, but is rather treated surgically, for example by pneumonectomy or lobectomy.

In ES-SCLC, combination chemotherapy is the standard of care, with radiotherapy added only to palliate symptoms such as dyspnea, pain from liver or bone metastases, or for treatment of brain metastases, which, in small-cell lung carcinoma, typically have a rapid, if temporary, response to whole brain radiotherapy.

Combination chemotherapy consists of a wide variety of agents, including cisplatin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine and carboplatin. Response rates are high even in extensive disease, with between 15% and 30% of subjects having a complete response to combination chemotherapy, and the vast majority having at least some objective response. Responses in ES-SCLC are often of short duration, however.

If complete response to chemotherapy occurs in a subject with SCLC, then prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) is often used in an attempt to prevent the emergence of brain metastases. Although this treatment is often effective, it can cause hair loss and fatigue. Prospective randomized trials with almost two years follow-up have not shown neurocognitive ill-effects. Meta-analyses of randomized trials confirm that PCI provides significant survival benefits.

Genetic changes are very high in SCLC and LCNEC, but usually low for TC, intermediate for AC.

Complete radical surgical resection is the treatment of choice for EMECL, and in most cases, results in long-term survival or cure.

All in all, small-cell carcinoma is very responsive to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and in particular, regimens based on platinum-containing agents. However, most people with the disease relapse, and median survival remains low.

In "limited-stage" disease, median survival with treatment is 14–20 months, and about 20% of patients with limited-stage small-cell lung carcinoma live 5 years or longer. Because of its predisposition for early metastasis, the prognosis of SCLC is poor, with only 10% to 15% of patients surviving 3 years.

The prognosis is far more grim in "extensive-stage" small-cell lung carcinoma; with treatment, median survival is 8–13 months; only 1–5% of patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung carcinoma treated with chemotherapy live 5 years or longer.

Adenosquamous lung carcinoma (AdSqLC) is a biphasic malignant tumor arising from lung tissue that is composed of at least 10% by volume each of squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) and adenocarcinoma (AdC) cells.

NSCLC patients with advanced disease who are not found to have either EGFR or ALK mutations may receive bevacizumab which is a monoclonal antibody medication targeted against the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). This is based on an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group study which found that adding bevacizumab to carboplatin and paclitaxel chemotherapy for certain patients with recurrent or advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (stage IIIB or IV) may increase both overall survival and progression free survival.

In 2015 the US FDA approved the anti-PD-1 agent nivolumab for advanced or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma.

October 2, 2015, the FDA approved pembrolizumab for the treatment of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients whose tumors express PD-L1 and who have failed treatment with other chemotherapeutic agents.

October 2016, pembrolizumab became the first immunotherapy to be used first line in the treatment of NSCLC if the cancer overexpresses PDL1 and the cancer has no mutations in EGFR or in ALK; if chemotherapy has already been administered, then pembrolizumab can be used as a second line treatment but if the cancer has EGFR or ALK mutations, agents targeting those mutations should be used first. Assessment of PDL1 must be conducted with a validated and approved companion diagnostic.

MCACL has a much more favorable prognosis than most other forms of adenocarcinoma and most other NSCLC's. Cases have been documented of continued growth of these lesions over a period of 10 years without symptoms or metastasis. The overall mortality rate appears to be somewhere in the vicinity of 18% to 27%, depending on the criteria that are used to define this entity.

Non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) is any type of epithelial lung cancer other than small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). NSCLC accounts for about 85% of all lung cancers. As a class, NSCLCs are relatively insensitive to chemotherapy, compared to small cell carcinoma. When possible, they are primarily treated by surgical resection with curative intent, although chemotherapy is increasingly being used both pre-operatively (neoadjuvant chemotherapy) and post-operatively (adjuvant chemotherapy).

Accurate incidence statistics on MCACL are unavailable. It is a very rare tumor, with only a few dozen cases reported in the literature to date.

In the few cases described in the literature to date, the male-to-female ratio is approximately unity, and right lung lesions occurred twice as commonly as left lung lesions. Approximately 2/3 of cases have been associated with tobacco smoking. Cases have been reported in patients as young as 29.

In most series, LCLC's comprise between 5% and 10% of all lung cancers.

According to the Nurses' Health Study, the risk of large cell lung carcinoma increases with a previous history of tobacco smoking, with a previous smoking duration of 30 to 40 years giving a relative risk of approximately 2.3 compared to never-smokers, and a duration of more than 40 years giving a relative risk of approximately 3.6.

Another study concluded that cigarette smoking is the predominant cause of large cell lung cancer. It estimated that the odds ratio associated with smoking two or more packs/day for current smokers is 37.0 in men and 72.9 in women.

Atypical adenomatous hyperplasia is a subtype of pneumocytic hyperplasia in the lung. It can be a precursor lesion of in situ adenocarcinoma of the lung (bronchioloalveolar carcinoma).

In prostate tissue biopsy, it can be confused for adenocarcinoma of the prostate. The needle biopsy rate is less than 1%.

To date there have been no clinical trials to determine effective treatment for this disease. Some patients have been treated with somatostatin analogs. Although the cough associated with DIPNECH tends to diminish on this treatment, improvement in pulmonary function has not been clearly demonstrated. There are also reports of symptomatic treatment with long- and short-acting beta agonists. Although steroids, both oral and inhaled, have been used in the setting of DIPNECH, there is no clear improvement with this treatment.

It is not uncommon for typical carcinoids to arise within DIPNECH. Due to presence of these tumors, DIPNECH is classified as a pre-malignant condition. Although there have been reports of atypical carcinoids with local lymph node involvement, there are no reports of more aggressive neuroendocrine tumors, such as large cell neuroendocrine or small cell lung cancer, associated with DIPNECH. When isolated bronchial carcinoids are diagnosed, oncology guidelines recommend surgical resection with lymph node sampling. However, as multiple carcinoids may develop in the setting of DIPNECH, a more conservative approach is often considered to preserve lung function.

Large-cell carcinoma (LCC) is a heterogeneous group of undifferentiated malignant neoplasms that lack the cytologic and architectural features of small cell carcinoma and glandular or squamous differentiation. LCC is categorized as a type of NSCLC (Non-Small Cell Carcinoma) which originates from epithelial cells of the lung.

Pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors are neuroendocrine tumors localized to the lung: bronchus or pulmonary parenchyma.

Pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors include a spectrum of tumors from the low-grade typical pulmonary carcinoid tumor and intermediate-grade atypical pulmonary carcinoid tumor to the high-grade pulmonary large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) and pulmonary small cell carcinoma (SCLC), with significant clinical, epidemiologic and genetic differences.

The prognosis of EMECL is relatively good, and considerably better than most other forms of NSCLC. The skull and dura are possible sites for metastasis from pulmonary EMC. The MIB-1 index is a predictive marker of malignant potential.

Because of its rarity, there have been no randomized clinical trials of treatment of GCCL, and all information available derives from small retrospective institutional series or multicenter metadata.

Salivary gland–like carcinomas of the lung generally refers a class of rare cancers that arise from the uncontrolled cell division (mitosis) of mutated cancer stem cells in lung tissue. They take their name partly from the appearance of their abnormal cells, whose structure and features closely resemble those of cancers that form in the major salivary glands (parotid glands, submandibular glands and sublingual glands) of the head and neck. Carcinoma is a term for malignant neoplasms derived from cells of epithelial lineage, and/or that exhibit cytological or tissue architectural features characteristically found in epithelial cells.

This class of primary lung cancers contains several histological variants, including mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the lung, adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lung, epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma of the lung, and other (even more rare) variants. .