Precursor lesions are of increasing interest due to implication in lung cancer screening.
Currently there are 3 types of recognized precursor lesions:
Squamous dysplasia and carcinoma: precursor lesion for squamous-cell carcinoma.
Adenomatous hyperplasia: precursor lesion for bronchioalveolar carcinoma, a form of adenocarcinoma.
Idiopathic pulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia: precursor for pulmonary carcinoids.
Precursor lesion for SCLC is unknown.