Analysis of the clinicopathologic characteristics and prognostic of stage I invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma

Establishment and verification of novel TNM staging system for lung mucinous adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND

Lung adenocarcinoma is a high-mortality rate cancer. Within this category, Lung mucinous adenocarcinoma (LMAC) is a rare and distinct subtype of lung adenocarcinoma necessitating further investigation. The study was launched to compare the difference of survival features between LMAC and lung non-mucinous adenocarcinoma (LNMAC) and to investigate the significance and demand for developing a new staging system tailored to LMAC.

METHODS

This retrospective study assessed the suitableness of the current staging system for LMAC. It compared the overall survival (OS) between LMAC and LNMAC from 2004 to 2020 (LNMAC: 160,387; LMAC: 6,341) and instituted a novel classification framework for LMAC based on US population. Verification group consisting of patients from two Chinese medical centers from 2010 to 2018 (n = 392) was set to ascertain the applicability of this novel system. The primary endpoint was OS. To minimize the bias, propensity score match (PSM) was employed. Survival analysis and Log-rank test were executed to explore the survival features of LMAC.

RESULTS

The results indicated that the existed staging system was not suitable for LMAC. Patients diagnosed with LMAC exhibited a superior OS compared to those with LNMAC in stage IA2 (P < 0.0001), IA3 (P < 0.0001), IB (P = 0.0062), IIA (P = 0.0090), IIB (P = 0.0005). In contrast, a worse OS in stage IVA (P = 0.0103) was found in LMAC patients. The novel classification system proposed for LMAC proved to be highly applicable and demonstrated substantial efficacy, as confirmed by the verification group.

CONCLUSION

The newly established classification system was more effective for LMAC, but it necessitates large-scale verification to confirm its applicability and reliability.

Limited resection is comparable to lobectomy for tumor size ≤ 2 cm pulmonary invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma

OBJECTIVES

Invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma (IMA) has a rare incidence with better prognosis than nonmucinous adenocarcinoma. We aimed to investigate the prognosis between limited resection and lobectomy for patients with clinical stage IA IMA ≤ 2 cm.

METHODS

Data were taken from two cohorts: In Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital (SPH) corhort, we identified 403 patients with clinical stage IA IMA who underwent surgery. In the SEER corhort, 480 patients with stage T1 IMA who after surgery were included. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) for SPH corhort, lung cancer-specific survival (LCSS) for the SEER corhort and overall survival (OS) for both corhort were compared between patients undergoing lobectomy and limited resection by Log-rank and Cox proportional hazard regression model.

RESULTS

In SPH corhort, patients who underwent limited resection had equivalent prognosis than those underwent lobectomy (5-year RFS: 79.3% versus. 82.6%, p = 0.116; 5-year OS: 86.2% versus. 88.3%, p = 0.235). However, patients with IMA > 2 to 3 cm had worse prognosis than those with IMA ≤ 2 cm (5-year RFS: 73.7% versus. 86.1%, p = 0.007). In the analysis of IMA > 2 to 3 cm subgroup, multivariate analysis showed that limited resection was an independent risk factor of RFS (hazard ratio, 2.417; 95% confidence interval, 1.157-5.049; p = 0.019), while OS (p = 0.122) was not significantly different between two groups. For IMA ≤ 2 cm, limited resection was not a risk factor of RFS (p = 0. 953) and OS (p = 0.552). In the SEER corhort, IMA ≤ 2 cm subgroup, limited resection was equivalent prognosis in LCSS (p = 0.703) and OS (p = 0.830).

CONCLUSIONS

Limited resection could be a potential surgical option which comparable to lobectomy in patients with clinical stage IA IMA ≤ 2 cm.

Who benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy in stage I lung adenocarcinoma? A multi-dimensional model for candidate selection

BACKGROUND

Despite promising overall survival of stage I lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients, 10-25 % of them still went through recurrence after surgery. [1] While it is still disputable whether adjuvant chemotherapy is necessary for stage I patients. [2] IASLC grading system for non-mucinous LUAD shows that minor high-grade patterns are significant indicator of poor prognosis. [3] Other risk factors, such as, pleura invasion, lympho-vascular invasion, STAS, etc. are also related to poor prognosis. [4-6] There still lack evidence whether IASLC grade itself or together with other risk factors can guide the use of adjuvant therapy in stage I patients. In this article, we tried to establish a multi-variable recurrence prediction model for stage I LUAD patients that is able to identify candidates of adjuvant chemotherapy.

METHODS

We retrospectively collected patients who underwent lung surgery from 2018.8.1 to 2018.12.31 at our institution and diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma pT1-2aN0M0 (stage I). Clinical data, manifestation on CT scan, pathologic features, driver gene mutations and follow-up information were collected. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were performed utilizing the non-adjuvant cohort to predict disease free survival (DFS) and a nomogram was constructed and applied to the total cohort. Kaplan-Meier method was used to compare DFS between groups. Statistical analysis was conducted by R version 3.6.3.

FINDINGS

A total of 913 stage I LUAD patients were included in this study. Median follow-up time is 48.1 months.4-year and 5-year DFS are 92.9 % and 89.6 % for the total cohort. 65 patient experienced recurrence or death. 4-year DFS are 97.0 %,94.6 % and 76.2 %, and 5-year DFS are 95.5 %, 90.0 % and 74.1 % in IASLC Grade1, 2 and 3, respectively(p < 0.0001). High-risk patients defined by single risk factors, such as, IASLC grade 3, pleura invasion, STAS, less LN resected could not benefit from adjuvant therapy. A LASSO-COX regression model was built and patients are divided into high-risk and low-risk groups. In the high-risk group, patients underwent adjuvant chemotherapy have longer DFS than those who did not (p = 0.024), while in the low-risk group, patients underwent adjuvant chemotherapy have inferior DFS than those who did not (p < 0.001).

INTERPRETATION

IASLC grading is a significant indicator of DFS, however it could not guide adjuvant therapy in our stage I LUAD cohort. Growth patterns and T indicators together with other risk factors could identify high-risk patients that are potential candidate of adjuvant therapy, including some stage IA LUAD patients.

Comparison of the immunotherapy efficacy between invasive mucinous and non-mucinous adenocarcinoma in advanced lung cancer patients with KRAS mutation: a retrospective study

Invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma (IMA) is a rare variant of adenocarcinoma with unique clinical, radiological, and pathological features, among which KRAS mutation is the most common. However, the differences in the efficacy of immunotherapy between KRAS-positive IMA and invasive non-mucinous adenocarcinoma (INMA) patients remain unclear. Patients with KRAS mutated adenocarcinomas receiving immunotherapy between June 2016 and December 2022 were enrolled. Based on mucin-producing status, the patients were placed into two subgroups: the IMA group and INMA group. Patients with IMA were further classified into two subtypes according to the presence of mucin patterns: pure IMA (≥ 90%) and mixed mucinous/nonmucinous adenocarcinoma (≥ 10% of each histological component). Kaplan-Meier Curves and log-rank tests were used to analyze survival. Cox regression analysis of PFS were used to analyze the independent factors associated with efficacy. Sixty-five advanced adenocarcinoma patients with KRAS mutations received immunotherapy, including 24 patients with IMA and 41 with INMA. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 7.7 months, whereas the median overall survival (OS) was 24.0 months. Significant difference in PFS could be observed in IMA and INMA (3.5 months vs. 8.9 months; P = 0.047). Patients with pure IMA tended toward prolonger survival in contrast to mixed mucinous/nonmucinous adenocarcinoma in PFS (8.4 months vs. 2.3 months; P = 0.349). The multivariable analysis demonstrated that IMA was an independent risk factor for PFS. In KRAS mutated patients, IMA was associated with poorer PFS after immunotherapy compared with INMA.

Postoperative survival of pulmonary invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma versus non-mucinous invasive adenocarcinoma

PURPOSE

In 2015, the World Health Organization renamed mucinous bronchioloalveolar adenocarcinoma as pulmonary invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma (IMA). Due to its low incidence and unclear prognosis with surgical treatment, previous studies have presented opposing survival outcomes. We aimed to investigate the differences in surgical prognosis and prognosis-related risk factors by comparing IMA with non-mucinous invasive adenocarcinoma (NMA).

METHODS

A total of 20,914 patients diagnosed with IMA or NMA from 2000 to 2014 were screened from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. The screened patients were subjected to propensity score matching (PSM) in a 1:4 ratio to explore the survival differences between patients with IMA and NMA and the factors influencing prognosis.

RESULTS

For all patients, IMA was prevalent in the lower lobes of the lungs (p < 0.0001), well-differentiated histologically (p < 0.0001), less likely to have lymph node metastases (94.4% vs. 72.0%, p < 0.0001) and at an earlier pathological stage (p = 0.0001). After PSM, the IMA cohort consisted of 303 patients, and the NMA cohort consisted of 1212 patients. Kaplan‒Meier survival analysis showed no difference in overall survival (OS) between patients in the IMA cohort and those in the NMA cohort (p = 0.7). Cox proportional hazards analysis showed that differences in tumor pathological type did not influence OS between the two cohorts (p = 0.65). Age (HR: 1.98, 95% CI 1.7-2.31, p < 0.0001), gender (HR: 0.64, 95% CI 0.55-0.75, p < 0.0001), and radiation treatment (HR: 2.49, 95% CI 1.84-3.37, p < 0.0001) were independent predictors of patient OS.

CONCLUSION

There was no significant difference in OS between patients with IMA and those with NMA after surgical treatment. Age, sex, and radiation treatment can independently predict OS.

Prognosis of resected invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma compared with the IASLC histologic grading system for invasive nonmucinous adenocarcinoma: Surgical database study in the TKIs era in Korea

BACKGROUND

The prognosis of invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma (IMA) remains controversial and should be clarified by comparison with the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) histologic grading system for invasive nonmucinous adenocarcinoma (INMA).

METHODS

This study included patients with IMA who underwent curative resection. Their clinicopathological outcomes were compared with those of patients with INMA. Propensity score matching was performed to compare the prognosis of IMA with IASLC grade 2 or 3. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and log-rank tests were used to analyze recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS).

RESULTS

The prognoses of IMA and IASLC grade 2 were similar in terms of RFS and OS. Although patients with IMA had better RFS than patients with IASLC grade 3, the OS was not significantly different. After propensity score matching, IMA demonstrated similar RFS to IASLC grade 2 but superior to IASLC grade 3; there was no difference in the OS compared with grades 2/3. Multivariate analysis revealed that tumor size (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.20, p = 0.028), lymphovascular invasion (HR = 127.5, p = 0.003), and maximum standardized uptake value (HR = 1.24, p = 0.005) were poor prognostic predictors for RFS. Patients with IMA demonstrated RFS similar to and significantly better than that of patients with IASLC grades 2 and 3, respectively. For OS, IMA prognosis was between that of IASLC grades 2 and 3.

CONCLUSIONS

Since the prognosis of IMA among lung adenocarcinomas appears to be relatively worse, further clinical studies investigating IMA-specific treatment and follow-up plans are necessary to draw more inferences.

[A Review on Pathological High-risk Factors and Postoperative Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Stage IA Lung Adenocarcinoma]

The survival rate needs to be improved in early stage non-small cell lung cancer patients. The risk of recurrence is relatively high in invasive adenocarcinoma patients with a solid or micropapillary component, lymphovascular invasion or tumor spread through air spaces. Systemic treatment options including radical surgical resection should be explored for this population. Adjuvant chemotherapy is not recommended for patients in stage IA in current guidelines. This article is a review on the research progress of the above pathological high-risk factors and the role of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with pathological high-risk factors in stage IA lung adenocarcinoma.
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Identification of pathological subtypes of early lung adenocarcinoma based on artificial intelligence parameters and CT signs

Objective: To explore the value of quantitative parameters of artificial intelligence (AI) and computed tomography (CT) signs in identifying pathological subtypes of lung adenocarcinoma appearing as ground-glass nodules (GGNs). Methods: CT images of 224 GGNs from 210 individuals were collected retrospectively and classified into atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH)/adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS), minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA), and invasive adenocarcinoma (IAC) groups. AI was used to identify GGNs and to obtain quantitative parameters, and CT signs were recognized manually. The mixed predictive model based on logistic multivariate regression was built and evaluated. Results: Of the 224 GGNs, 55, 93, and 76 were AAH/AIS, MIA, and IAC, respectively. In terms of AI parameters, from AAH/AIS to MIA, and IAC, there was a gradual increase in two-dimensional mean diameter, three-dimensional mean diameter, mean CT value, maximum CT value, and volume of GGNs (all P<0.0001). Except for the CT signs of the location, and the tumor–lung interface, there were significant differences among the three groups in the density, shape, vacuolar signs, air bronchogram, lobulation, spiculation, pleural indentation, and vascular convergence signs (all P<0.05). The areas under the curve (AUC) of predictive model 1 for identifying the AAH/AIS and MIA and model 2 for identifying MIA and IAC were 0.779 and 0.918, respectively, which were greater than the quantitative parameters independently (all P<0.05). Conclusion: AI parameters are valuable for identifying subtypes of early lung adenocarcinoma and have improved diagnostic efficacy when combined with CT signs.

Optimizing palliative chemotherapy for advanced invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma of the lung

Background

A primary pulmonary invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma (IMA) is a rare subtype of invasive adenocarcinoma of the lung. The prognosis of advanced IMA depending on chemotherapy regimen has not been fully investigated. Here, we compared the clinical outcomes of patients with advanced IMA treated with different palliative chemotherapies that included novel therapeutics.

Methods

This single-center retrospective study included a total of 79 patients diagnosed with IMA and treated with palliative chemotherapy. The primary outcome was the comparison of overall survival according to palliative chemotherapy type. Risk factors associated with death were evaluated as a secondary outcome.

Results

The study cohort of 79 patients comprised 27 progressive or recurrent cases and 52 initial metastatic patients. Thirteen patients (16.5%) received targeted therapy and 18 cases (22.8%) received immunotherapy. When we compared the survival outcomes of the different treatment regimens, patients with IMA treated by immunotherapy (undefined vs. non-immunotherapy 17.0 months, p < 0.001) had better overall survival rates. However, there was no difference in the prognosis between the cases treated with a targeted therapy (35.6 vs. non-targeted therapy 17.0 months, p = 0.211). None of the conventional regimens produced a better outcome. By multivariable analysis, immunotherapy (HR 0.28; 95% CI 0.11–0.74; P = 0.008) was found to be an independent prognostic factor for death.

Conclusions

This study suggests that immunotherapy for patients with advanced IMA may provide favorable outcomes than other chemotherapy options.

Nanog maintains stemness of Lkb1-deficient lung adenocarcinoma and prevents gastric differentiation

Growing evidence supports that LKB1-deficient KRAS-driven lung tumors represent a unique therapeutic challenge, displaying strong cancer plasticity that promotes lineage conversion and drug resistance. Here we find that murine lung tumors from the KrasLSL-G12D/+ ; Lkb1flox/flox (KL) model show strong plasticity, which associates with up-regulation of stem cell pluripotency genes such as Nanog. Deletion of Nanog in KL model initiates a gastric differentiation program and promotes mucinous lung tumor growth. We find that NANOG is not expressed at a meaningful level in human lung adenocarcinoma (ADC), as well as in human lung invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma (IMA). Gastric differentiation involves activation of Notch signaling, and perturbation of Notch pathway by the γ-secretase inhibitor LY-411575 remarkably impairs mucinous tumor formation. In contrast to non-mucinous tumors, mucinous tumors are resistant to phenformin treatment. Such therapeutic resistance could be overcome through combined treatments with LY-411575 and phenformin. Overall, we uncover a previously unappreciated plasticity of LKB1-deficient tumors and identify the Nanog-Notch axis in regulating gastric differentiation, which holds important therapeutic implication for the treatment of mucinous lung cancer.

Primary Invasive Mucinous Adenocarcinoma of the Lung: Prognostic Value of CT Imaging Features Combined with Clinical Factors

Objective

To investigate the association between CT imaging features and survival outcomes in patients with primary invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma (IMA).

Materials and Methods

Preoperative CT image findings were consecutively evaluated in 317 patients with resected IMA from January 2011 to December 2015. The association between CT features and long-term survival were assessed by univariate analysis. The independent prognostic factors were identified by the multivariate Cox regression analyses. The survival comparison of IMA patients was investigated using the Kaplan-Meier method and propensity scores. Furthermore, the prognostic impact of CT features was assessed based on different imaging subtypes, and the results were adjusted using the Bonferroni method.

Results

The median follow-up time was 52.8 months; the 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival rates of resected IMAs were 68.5% and 77.6%, respectively. The univariate analyses of all IMA patients demonstrated that 15 CT imaging features, in addition to the clinicopathologic characteristics, significantly correlated with the recurrence or death of IMA patients. The multivariable analysis revealed that five of them, including imaging subtype (p = 0.002), spiculation (p < 0.001), tumor density (p = 0.008), air bronchogram (p < 0.001), emphysema (p < 0.001), and location (p = 0.029) were independent prognostic factors. The subgroup analysis demonstrated that pneumonic-type IMA had a significantly worse prognosis than solitary-type IMA. Moreover, for solitary-type IMAs, the most independent CT imaging biomarkers were air bronchogram and emphysema with an adjusted p value less than 0.05; for pneumonic-type IMA, the tumors with mixed consolidation and ground-glass opacity were associated with a longer DFS (adjusted p = 0.012).

Conclusion

CT imaging features characteristic of IMA may provide prognostic information and individual risk assessment in addition to the recognized clinical predictors.

Prognostic Impact of Histopathologic Features in Pulmonary Invasive Mucinous Adenocarcinomas

OBJECTIVES

The prognostic significance of pathologic features and invasive size has not been well studied for invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma (IMA). This study evaluates the significance of pathologic features and invasive size in relation to clinical outcome.

METHODS

We reviewed the pathologic features in 84 IMAs, including histologic pattern, nuclear atypia, mitosis, necrosis, and lymphovascular invasion. The invasive size was calculated from the total size using the percentage of invasive components. Cases were subdivided into two pathologic grades based on five pathologic features, and the pathologic grade and adjusted T (aT) stage were correlated with disease-free and overall survival (OS).

RESULTS

Necrosis and N stage were significantly associated with aT stage, and a significant association was noted between OS and aT stage. Nuclear atypia, mitosis, and lymphovascular and pleural invasion also showed a significant association with OS. High-grade tumors showing a significantly worse OS compared with low-grade tumors, as well as pathologic grade (hazard ratio [HR], 2.337; P = .043) and aT stage (HR, 1.875; P = .003), were independent prognostic factors in multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

The pathologic grading system stratified IMAs into high- and low-grade tumors with significant differences in OS. Invasive size may provide a better prognostic stratification for OS.

Proportion of goblet cell is associated with malignant potential in invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma of the lung

Invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma (IMA) is a newly classified variant of lung adenocarcinoma. The aim of this study was to examine the correlation between the proportion of goblet cells and the clinicopathological characteristics of IMA. Ninety-nine patients with stage I IMA were included in this study. We estimated prognostic impact of goblet cell proportion. We classified them into two groups: the cases with a high goblet cell proportion (HGP, goblet cell proportion ≥80%) and the cases with a low goblet cell proportion (LGP, goblet cell proportion ≤30%), and compared the expression levels of five cancer progression markers and the number of tumor-promoting stromal cells between the two groups. Univariate and multivariate analysis revealed that the goblet cell proportion was a prognostic factor for recurrence free survival (P < 0.01) and overall survival (P = 0.01). The expression levels of the cancer stem cell-related marker, ALDH-1, and proliferation-related marker, geminin were significantly higher in the LGP group than in the HGP group. CD204+ tumor-associated macrophages were significantly more in the LGP stroma than the HGP stroma. Our current study indicated that the proportion of goblet cells was correlated with the malignant potential in surgically resected IMA.

Comparing clinicopathological features and prognosis of primary pulmonary invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma based on computed tomography findings

Objective

To evaluate the relationship between clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis in patients with invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma (IMA) of the lung.

Methods

A total of 68 patients who underwent surgical resection for primary lung IMA were reviewed during the period of 2009 and 2017. Tumors were classified as solitary-type or pneumonic-type according to the computed tomography (CT) findings. Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess the effects of clinicopathological characteristics on univariate and multivariable analyses of disease-free survival (DFS).

Results

Solitary-type was found in 54 patients, while pneumonic-type was found in 14 patients. The patients’ age varied between 56 and 68 years (patients’ median age was 61 years). Besides, 50 patients had T1/T2 tumor stage (73.5%). Compared with solitary-type, higher T stage, N stage, and pathological stage (P < 0.001) were found in pneumonic-type. Moreover, the survival analysis showed that the pneumonic-type had a significantly poorer DFS compared with solitary-type (P = 0.004). Univariate analysis showed that pneumonic pattern on CT scan, T stage, pathologic stage, and thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF-1) were significant predictive factors of survival (P = 0.011, 0.014, 0.013, 0.029, respectively). Multivariate analysis further indicated that pneumonic-type was the only independent prognostic factor for poor survival [hazard ratio (HR) = 6.764, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.563–29.269, P = 0.011].

Conclusions

Based on CT findings, the solitary-type IMA is associated with a lower stage and better prognosis compared with the pneumonic-type IMA.

Should minimally invasive lung adenocarcinoma be transferred from stage IA1 to stage 0 in future updates of the TNM staging system?

Background

The 8th International Association Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) TNM classification staging project for lung cancer has classified patients with adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) into stage 0, while patients with a minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA) were classified into stage IA1. However, MIA patients, similar to AIS patients, have an approximately a 100% 5-year survival. This study aimed to investigate if MIA could be transferred from stage IA to stage 0 in the next TNM staging system.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed 1,524 consecutive patients with a pathologically confirmed AIS, MIA and an invasive adenocarcinoma (IADC) in stage IA1. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed to evaluate survival difference between these three groups.

Results

There were 412 AIS, 675 MIA and 437 IADC patients in stage IA1. No statistically significant differences for DFS and OS (P=0.109) were seen between the AIS and MIA groups. Patients of the IADC group had significantly worse DFS (P=0.003) but the OS rate (P=0.941) was insignificant when compared with the MIA patients. Similar survival results were seen when comparisons were made between the IADC and AIS/MIA groups. The IADC group had a worse DFS (P=0.001) rate but no OS (P=0.380) difference with the AIS/MIA groups.

Conclusions

Patients with AIS and MIA had similar post-surgical survival rates. We propose that MIA may potentially be transferred from IA1 to stage 0 in the future.

Favorable response to pemetrexed, cisplatin and bevacizumab in invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma: A case report and literature review

Invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma (IMA) was formerly referred to as mucinous bronchioloalveolar carcinoma. The lack of effective chemotherapy and comprehensive treatment for this type of tumor poses a great challenge in clinical practice. We herein report the case of a male patient with IMA who was treated with a combination of pemetrexed (500 mg/m²), cisplatin (75 mg/m²) and bevacizumab (15 mg/kg) as first-line chemotherapy. The patient achieved significant radiological improvement with 6 courses of this regimen. After the tumor progressed, the patient again achieved marked improvement with an additional 4 courses of the same regimen. The patient survived for a total of 30 months after the first chemotherapy. Therefore, bevacizumab in combination with pemetrexed/cisplatin may be an effective strategy for the treatment of IMA. The available literature on this chemotherapy regimen was also reviewed and discussed in the present study.

Prognosis of limited resection versus lobectomy in elderly patients with invasive lung adenocarcinoma with tumor size less than or equal to 2 cm

Background

This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic difference between limited resection and lobectomy among elderly patients with small size lung adenocarcinoma.

Methods

A total of 666 patients >65 years old with stage I lung adenocarcinoma and tumor size ≤2 cm were included. The patient survival was evaluated by disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Results: No DFS or OS advantage was found between the lobectomy and wedge resection groups when tumor sizes were ≤1 cm (DFS, P=0.112; OS, P=0.294). The wedge resection group had a significantly worse OS (P=0.041) than that in the lobectomy group when tumor sizes were >1 cm and ≤2 cm.

Conclusions

We conclude that wedge resection may be a reasonable surgical choice for elderly patients with tumor sizes ≤1 cm.

Solid predominant histologic subtype and early recurrence predict poor postrecurrence survival in patients with stage I lung adenocarcinoma

Introduction

This study investigated the correlation between histologic predominant pattern and postrecurrence survival (PRS), and identified the clinicopathologic factors influencing PRS in patients with completely resected stage I lung adenocarcinoma.

Methods

A total of 136 stage I lung adenocarcinoma patients who experienced tumor recurrence after completely resection were included in this study. To analysis the association between histologic predominant pattern and PRS, invasive adenocarcinomas with mixed histologic components were divided into 2 groups: solid and nonsolid group (including lepidic, acinar, papillary, micropapillary) based on the histologic predominant pattern. PRS was analyzed to identify the prognostic predictors using the Kaplan-Meier approach and multivariable Cox models.

Results

For all stage I invasive adenocarcinoma patients, the majority of postsurgical recurrences occurred within 2 years. Patients with solid predominant histological pattern were associated with unfavorable PRS (HR, 2.40; 95%CI 1.13-5.08, p=.022). There was a significant difference for poor PRS for patients who diagnosed tumor recurrence shorter than 12 months after surgery (HR, 2.34; 95%CI 1.12-4.90, p=.024). Extrathoracic metastasis was associated with poor media PRS in univariable analysis (p =.011), however, there was no significant PRS difference in multivariable analysis (HR, 1.56; 95%CI 0.65-3.73, p=.322) compared with intrathoracic metastasis.

Conclusions

Solid predominant histologic subtype and recurrence free interval less than 12 months predict worse PRS in patients with stage I lung adenocarcinoma.

Impact of Solid Minor Histologic Subtype in Postsurgical Prognosis of Stage I Lung Adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND

Few studies focus on the outcome and effect of a postsurgical treatment strategy for early stage patients with minor solid components pattern. This study investigated the prognosis and the adjuvant chemotherapy benefit among stage I invasive lung adenocarcinoma patients with minor solid components pattern according to the eighth TNM staging classification.

METHODS

A total of 3,308 lung adenocarcinoma patients with mixed histologic components was divided into three groups: solid predominant, solid minor, and solid absent pattern. Disease-free survival and overall survival were analyzed to evaluate survival difference among patients in the different groups using the Kaplan-Meier approach and multivariable Cox models.

RESULTS

Both solid predominant and solid minor groups showed significantly worse disease-free survival (p < 0.001) and overall survival (p < 0.001) compared with the solid absent group. There were no significant disease-free survival (hazard ratio [HR] 1.41, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.87 to 2.30, p = 0.161) or overall survival (HR 1.60, 95% CI: 0.83 to 3.09, p = 0.159) difference between the former two groups. For patients in stage IB, adjuvant chemotherapy improves disease-free survival (HR 0.33, 95% CI: 0.11 to 1.02, p = 0.044) but not overall survival (HR 0.61, 95% CI: 0.21 to 1.77, p = 0.360) in the solid predominant group. No adjuvant chemotherapy benefits for disease-free survival (HR 1.04, 95% CI: 0.49 to 2.22; p = 0.922) and overall survival (HR 0.49, 95% CI: 0.13 to 1.90; p = 0.291) were seen for the solid minor group.

CONCLUSIONS

Solid minor components predict a significantly worse prognosis compared with the solid absent pattern. However, adjuvant chemotherapy may be unhelpful to improve outcomes for stage IB patients with solid minor components after surgery.

Pulmonary invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma and mixed invasive mucinous/nonmucinous adenocarcinoma-a clinicopathological and molecular genetic study with survival analysis

Invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma is a variant of lung adenocarcinoma, which may be mixed with nonmucinous adenocarcinoma. KRAS mutations are common, but other clinical and genetic features are not clearly established. Lung adenocarcinomas (n=760) with ≥5 years of follow-up comprised 3 nonoverlapping cohorts for survival analysis. Mucinous tumors were evaluated with Ion AmpliSeq Cancer Hotspot Panel v2. Cases without detected mutations were tested for ALK and ROS1 and by OncoScan array. Fifty-seven invasive mucinous adenocarcinomas and 54 mixed mucinous/nonmucinous adenocarcinomas were identified. Mucinous tumors constituted 27 of 218 nonselected patients (12.4%), 23 of 268 never-smokers (8.6%), and 61 of 274 in a smokers cohort enriched for lepidic growth (22.3%). In the lepidic-enriched smokers, patients with mucinous tumors experienced worse overall survival (P=.006) and progression-free survival (P=.024), which persisted on multivariable analysis. No survival differences were observed in the other cohorts. KRAS mutations were common (76% of invasive mucinous adenocarcinomas, 68% of mixed mucinous/nonmucinous), and 38% of KRAS mutations occurred with other mutations, especially STK11. Six cases had potentially targetable mutations (3 ALK, 2 EGFR, 1 BRAF V600E). All ALK-rearranged tumors were mixed mucinous/nonmucinous. Four of 6 cases without hotspot mutations showed complex copy number/structural abnormalities. Pulmonary invasive mucinous adenocarcinomas and mixed nonmucinous/mucinous adenocarcinomas are clinically and genetically similar, except for a higher rate of ALK rearrangement in mixed tumors. Survival for mucinous tumors is similar to that for nonmucinous tumors in a nonselected cohort, although worse survival was seen in a cohort of smokers enriched for lepidic growth.

Visceral pleural invasion predict a poor survival among lung adenocarcinoma patients with tumor size ≤ 3cm

INTRODUCTION

The impact of visceral pleural invasion (VPI) on survival remains controversial for patients with early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study investigated the survival status of VPI among patients with lymph node-negative lung invasive adenocarcinoma smaller than 3cm.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed 2537 consecutive patients with pathologic stage I lung invasive adenocarcinoma. All patients had received lobectomy and system lymph nodes resection. Patients were classified into 4 groups according to tumor size and visceral pleural invasion status. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed to evaluate survival difference between these groups.

RESULTS

548 patients with VPI while 1989 patients without VPI were included in this study. For patients with tumor size ≤2cm, patients with VPI had significant worse DFS (HR,4.85; 95% CI, 2.98-7.91; p = .000) and OS(HR,3.52; 95% CI, 1.59-7.78; p = .002) compared with non-VPI group. For patients with tumor size between 2-3cm, patients with VPI had significant worse DFS (HR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.16-2.55; p = .006) but no significant OS (HR, 1.31; 95% CI, 0.76-2.24; p = .330) compared with non-VPI group. For patients with VPI, there were no survival difference between tumor size 2-3cm group and ≤2cm group for both DFS(HR,1.02; 95% CI, 0.65-1.61; p = .939) and OS(HR,1.45; 95% CI, 0.71-2.97; p = .315).

CONCLUSIONS

VPI could predict a poor survival even for node-negative invasive lung adenocarcinoma patients with tumor size less than 3cm.