A review of 119 patients (88 males and 31 females) with carcinoma of the lung 
seen at the Hospital University Sains Malaysia (HUSM) from 1984 to 1989 was 
done. The mean age of the patients was 60.3 years with a high proportion (76.6%) 
of them were between 41 and 70 years. Seventy five percent of patients (84% of 
men and 26% of women) were smokers. The Chinese have a significantly higher 
preponderance to carcinoma of the lung. The commonest histological type found 
was squamous cell carcinoma in men and adenocarcinoma in women. Small cell 
carcinoma was uncommon. Squamous cell and large cell/undifferentiated type of 
carcinoma were significantly associated with smoking behaviour of the patients.