Downgraded Bac - 1261372

Correct. Bronchoalveolar carcinoma (BAC) has been reclassified as "adenocarcinoma in situ". This was done to reduce fear and confusion, and highlight that the long-term prognosis of these tend to be excellent.

Based on a recent series from Memorial, small resected BACs had an 85 - 100% 5-year survival. That is assuming proper initial staging and complete surgical operation done at a major cancer center. The optimal strategy for conservative management (eg watch and wait) of multicentric BAC remains controversial. I think it is wise to review each on a case-by-base basis with a dedicated thoracic surgeon. Hope this helps.

Dr. Creelan beat me to the punch but I'll leave this be. Thanks Dr. Creelan you're the tops.

Keeping in mind the treatment needs to be less harmful then the illness, in it's pure form BAC is so indolent often it's better to watch than to dig in and treat. There are people whose BAC remains indolent throughout the persons life and die of something else while the BAC remains harmless.

However cancer can do anything. My husband is an example of someone whose cancer should have killed him by now but it hasn't even shown up on scans in almost 2 years. In the same vein BAC can become aggressive and need to be treated but that can only only happen if it's watched.

Dr. West is a leader in the treatment of BAC and has written extensively on the subject here on Grace. I'll post the blog written when the name was changed. I encourage you to search/click around the site, use the drop down menus and the search engine. Note that you may need to log off Grace to access your search because of browser differences (we're working of that).

This should give you a good start in answering your questions but don't hesitate to ask for more input.

All best,
Janine

I left out the links. Note the links at the end of the blogs, they refer to more reading on the subjects.

http://cancergrace.org/lung/2009/08/06/bac-no-more/

http://cancergrace.org/lung/2011/02/07/redefining-lung-cancer/#more-5108

http://cancergrace.org/lung/2010/07/09/basics-of-bac/

Here's a post I've written that covers your question:

http://cancergrace.org/lung/2007/05/14/bac-mucinous-and-non-mucinous/

Good luck.

-Dr. West