The pathogenesis and therapeutic management of rare pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma: a narrative review.

ABSTRACT:

Background and objective

Pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma (PSC) accounts for approximately 0.5% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cases and is thus a rare subtype. Highly aggressive and hard to detect early, PSC responds poorly to surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Therefore, this review aims to synthesize current evidence on its pathogenesis and emerging therapeutic strategies, to improve clinical management.

Methods

We searched PubMed for original studies, reviews, clinical trials, and case reports on PSC published until 2025. Moreover, data from ClinicalTrials.gov and major academic conference proceedings were examined for inclusion in this narrative review.

Key content and findings

The core pathophysiology of PSC is epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)

SUBMITTER: Wang Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12683482 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature