One hundred eleven patients with small cell carcinoma of the lung (SCLC) were histologically subtyped according to the recent consensus report by the Pathology Committee of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Using pretreatment material the authors examined retrospectively the significance of subtyping of SCLC as a prognostic factor for central nervous system metastasis. The results did not reveal any significant differences between the SCLC subtypes in patients with central nervous system metastases. It was concluded that among the subtypes of SCLC significant differences with regard to the propensity for CNS metastases do not exist.