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Small peripheral lung adenocarcinoma: Clinicopathological features and surgical treatment

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Abstract

The clinical use of high-resolution computed tomography (CT) has greatly advanced diagnosis of small peripheral lesions of the lung. In CT images, these lesions often exhibit ground-glass opacity (GGO). Ground-glass opacity is typical of noninvasive bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC), which is characterized by a lepidic pattern of cells that line the alveoli but do not invade neighboring structures. Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma is classified as a subset of lung adenocarcinoma, but has distinct clinical and pathological features and a favorable prognosis. Most small peripheral lung lesions, including BAC, probably originate in the epithelium of the peripheral airway. As with other subsets of non-small cell lung cancer, surgical resection is a potentially curative treatment. However, it is questionable whether a lobectomy is necessary for small lesions that exhibit GGO, particularly when they are <1 cm in diameter. Although several Japanese investigators have suggested that a limited resection, including a wedge resection and a segmentectomy without nodal dissection, is an appropriate treatment for small lung adenocarcinomas, this approach should be validated by clinical trials.

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  1. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Aichi Cancer Center Hospital, 1-1 Kanokoden, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8681, Japan

    Takayuki Fukui & Tetsuya Mitsudomi

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  1. Takayuki Fukui
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Fukui, T., Mitsudomi, T. Small peripheral lung adenocarcinoma: Clinicopathological features and surgical treatment. Surg Today 40, 191–198 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-008-4100-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-008-4100-4

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