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Diameter of Solid Tumor Component Alone Should be Used to Establish T Stage in Lung Adenocarcinoma

  • Thoracic Oncology
  • Published:
Annals of Surgical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The computed tomographic (CT) appearance of so-called ground glass components within lung adenocarcinomas correlate with noninvasive tumor histology, and solid radiographic components correlate with invasive histology. We hypothesized that T stage might be more accurately applied by considering the solid component nodule diameter rather than total nodule diameter.

Methods

We identified 74 patients with a solitary lung adenocarcinoma who underwent resection without receiving neoadjuvant therapy. Maximum total diameter and solid diameter of the nodules were measured on CT scans performed within 3 months of surgery. Cox proportional hazard modeling and Kaplan–Meier analyses were performed to determine whether total nodule diameter or solid component diameter was more predictive of overall survival.

Results

Thirty-three patients (45 %) had a solid nodule and 41 patients (55 %) had a part-solid nodule. Most patients were white (59 %) and female (69 %), and 42 % had never smoked. Seventy-four percent underwent lobectomy and 23 % sublobar resection. Sixty-six percent had pathologic stage I disease, 22 % stage II, and 12 % stage IIIA. Mean ± SD total and solid nodule diameters were 32.1 ± 17.5 and 24.8 ± 18.0 mm, respectively (p = 0.01). Among patients with part-solid nodules, multivariate modeling incorporating significant univariate predictors of survival (age, gender, procedure, N descriptor) revealed that maximum solid diameter was associated with overall survival (hazard ratio 1.4, p = 0.01), while maximum total diameter was not.

Conclusions

In a largely non-Asian cohort undergoing resection for adenocarcinoma, radiographic diameter of the solid component of a part-solid lesion on CT predicts overall survival better than total lesion diameter. These data provide further evidence to support altering the T descriptor for lung adenocarcinoma for part-solid nodules.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Correspondence to Bryan M. Burt MD.

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Burt, B.M., Leung, A.N., Yanagawa, M. et al. Diameter of Solid Tumor Component Alone Should be Used to Establish T Stage in Lung Adenocarcinoma. Ann Surg Oncol 22 (Suppl 3), 1318–1323 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-015-4780-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-015-4780-0

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