# Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the lung

Source: https://onco.cc/cancers/basaloid-squamous-cell-carcinoma-lung/  
OnCo record `basaloid-squamous-cell-carcinoma-lung` (Cancer). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma is a variant of squamous lung cancer made of small, dark, tightly packed cells that grow in nests; it has a worse outlook than ordinary squamous cell carcinoma. It is treated the same way, and its high PD-L1 levels suggest immunotherapy should work, though no trial has tested it separately.

## Summary

The WHO classification lists basaloid carcinoma as a form of squamous cell carcinoma (a pure form and a mixed variant with more than 50 percent basaloid pattern), having moved it out of large cell carcinoma in 2015 once immunohistochemistry showed squamous lineage in every case (Travis 2015; Pelosi 2014). Copy-number and expression profiling of 93 squamous cell carcinomas, 42 of them basaloid, showed that pure basaloid tumours have a specific expression profile, with cell-cycle, transcription, chromatin and splicing genes up and squamous differentiation genes down, from which a two-gene (SOX4, IVL) immunohistochemistry predictor separated basaloid from non-basaloid tumours with 94 percent accuracy (Brambilla 2014). In 56 resected basaloid carcinomas PD-L1 expression correlated with CD8-positive and PD-1-positive infiltrating T cells, with fair to poor agreement between some antibody clones (Modern Pathology 2016).

How it differs from its parent: the source series describes its prognosis as dismal compared with other squamous cell carcinoma, and its molecular profile is distinct; but no therapy has been shown to work better in it (Brambilla 2014).

How common: no incidence figure is published; it is a minority of squamous cell carcinomas.

Treatment: as squamous cell carcinoma of the lung by stage, including chemotherapy with pembrolizumab in metastatic disease; there is no trial in the variant.

## Fields

- Kind: Cancer
- Last checked: 2026-09-24
- Also known as: Basaloid squamous cell lung carcinoma; Basaloid carcinoma of the lung; Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma; Basaloid variant of squamous cell carcinoma
- Tags: subtype-page; wave4; lung
- Group: lung
- Burden: A minority of squamous cell carcinomas: 42 of 93 in the defining molecular series were basaloid (24 pure, 18 mixed), but that series was enriched for the type (Brambilla 2014). No registry share was found in the sources read.
- Subtypes: Pure basaloid squamous cell carcinoma; Mixed basaloid squamous cell carcinoma (over 50 percent basaloid pattern)
- Biomarkers: p40 positive, TTF-1 negative; SOX4 and IVL immunohistochemistry (research predictor); PD-L1 and CD8-positive infiltrate

## Sections of this record

The page is a hub with ten sections in reading order; large sections have their own page. The same plan as JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/cancers/basaloid-squamous-cell-carcinoma-lung/sections.json

- Overview (on the hub): The TL;DR, the family this cancer belongs to, the organ, who gets it and what the state of the art is. https://onco.cc/cancers/basaloid-squamous-cell-carcinoma-lung/#overview
- What it is (on the hub): Anatomy, the subtypes and how they differ, how it is staged, and where advanced disease spreads. https://onco.cc/cancers/basaloid-squamous-cell-carcinoma-lung/#what-it-is [2 subtypes]
- Finding it (on the hub): How it shows itself, how it is confirmed, what screening exists, and the biomarkers clinicians test for. https://onco.cc/cancers/basaloid-squamous-cell-carcinoma-lung/#finding-it [3 biomarkers]
- Treating it (on the hub): The standard of care by setting, the medicines, surgery and radiotherapy named in it, and the regimens behind them. https://onco.cc/cancers/basaloid-squamous-cell-carcinoma-lung/#treating-it [1 setting]
- Evidence (on the hub): Trials recruiting now, the landmark trials, the key papers and what they mean, the latest literature, and the milestones year by year. https://onco.cc/cancers/basaloid-squamous-cell-carcinoma-lung/#evidence [1 trial]
- The science (on the hub): The molecular landscape: the targets and how often each appears, the pathways, the mechanics stages and the preclinical models. https://onco.cc/cancers/basaloid-squamous-cell-carcinoma-lung/#science [1 target]
- Where you are (own page): Cases by country, the UK and NHS pathway and other country lenses, and the expert centres with trials on record. https://onco.cc/cancers/basaloid-squamous-cell-carcinoma-lung/where-you-are/
- Living with it (on the hub): The decisions you may face, the aids that walk through them, the warnings on record, the first sixty days and the questions to ask. https://onco.cc/cancers/basaloid-squamous-cell-carcinoma-lung/#living-with-it [9 questions, 3 red cards]
- What is coming (own page): Everything in development, the open problems and what is being done about them, the roadmaps, and what changed on this record. https://onco.cc/cancers/basaloid-squamous-cell-carcinoma-lung/coming/ [1 medicine]
- Data (own page): Every connected record, the notes, the JSON, Markdown and RDF twins, and where the record came from and when it was checked. https://onco.cc/cancers/basaloid-squamous-cell-carcinoma-lung/data/ [5 connected records]

## Standard of care

- All stages: Treated as squamous cell carcinoma of the lung; no trial in the variant. ([Squamous cell carcinoma of the lung](https://onco.cc/cancers/lung-squamous-cell-carcinoma/), [Pembrolizumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/pembrolizumab/), [KEYNOTE-407](https://onco.cc/trials/keynote-407/))

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squamous-cell_carcinoma_of_the_lung
- Travis 2015, JTO: the 2015 WHO classification of lung tumours: https://doi.org/10.1097/jto.0000000000000630
- Pelosi 2014, Virchows Archiv: large cell carcinoma of the lung reclassified by immunohistochemistry and molecular biology: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-013-1501-6
- Brambilla 2014, Clin Cancer Res: lung squamous cell carcinomas with basaloid histology are a specific molecular entity: https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-14-0459
- Modern Pathology 2016: PD-L1 expression in 56 basaloid squamous cell lung carcinomas: https://doi.org/10.1038/modpathol.2016.149

## Connected records

- cancers: [Large cell carcinoma of the lung](https://onco.cc/cancers/large-cell-lung-carcinoma/), [Lymphoepithelial carcinoma of the lung](https://onco.cc/cancers/lymphoepithelial-carcinoma-lung/), [Non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/nsclc/), [Squamous cell carcinoma of the lung](https://onco.cc/cancers/lung-squamous-cell-carcinoma/)
- drugs: [Pembrolizumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/pembrolizumab/)
- trials: [KEYNOTE-407](https://onco.cc/trials/keynote-407/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/basaloid-squamous-cell-carcinoma-lung.json