Angiopoietin 2 levels in serum and bronchial lavage fluids and their relationship with cancer stages in lung cancer patients

Differential Diagnosis of Nonabsorbable Inflammatory and Malignant Subsolid Nodules with a Solid Component ≤5 mm

Purpose

To investigate the differential clinical and computed tomography (CT) characteristics of pulmonary nonabsorbable inflammatory and malignant subsolid nodules (SSNs) with a solid component ≤5 mm.

Patients and Methods

We retrospectively analyzed 576 consecutive patients who underwent surgical resection and had SSNs with a solid component ≤5 mm on CT images. These patients were divided into inflammatory and malignant groups according to pathology. Their clinical and imaging data were analyzed and compared. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent prognostic factors differentiating inflammatory from malignant SSNs. Furthermore, 146 consecutive patients were included as internal validation cohort to test the prediction efficiency of this model.

Results

Significant differences in 11 clinical characteristics and CT features were found between both groups (P < 0.05). Presence of respiratory symptoms, distribution of middle/lower lobe, irregular shape, part-solid nodule (PSNs), CT value of ground-glass opacity (GGO) areas <−657 Hu, presence of abnormal intra-nodular vessel sign, and interlobular septal thickening were the most effective factors for diagnosing nonabsorbable inflammatory SSNs, with an AUC (95% CI), accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 0.843 (95% CI: 0.811–0.872), 89.76%, 72.86%, and 81.23%, respectively. The internal validation cohort obtained an AUC (95% CI), accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 0.830 (95% CI: 0.759–0.887), 83.56%, 73.91%, and 76.42%, respectively.

Conclusion

Nonabsorbable inflammatory and malignant SSNs with a solid component ≤5 mm exhibited different clinical and imaging characteristics.

The role of serum angiopoietin-2 levels in progression and prognosis of lung cancer: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Angiogenesis is an essential process in the development and progression of malignant tumors including lung cancer, in which angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) plays an important role. The objective of this study was to assess the prognostic value of serum Ang-2 levels in patients with lung cancer.

METHODS

A comprehensive systematic electronic search was performed in the Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, china national knowledge infrastructure, and VIP databases update to October, 2016 (qikan.cqvip.com). Literatures examining the relevance of serum Ang-2 levels to progression and prognosis of lung cancer were eligible for our study. Standardized mean differences (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) and a P value were applied to compare continuous variables, and hazard ratio (HR) with 95% CI as well as P value were applied for prognostic role.

RESULTS

Twenty studies with 1911 patients met the eligibility criteria. Among them, 7 studies with 575 patients with lung cancer assessed the association between expression of serum Ang-2 and prognosis. According to our results, higher levels of serum Ang-2 were associated with the later stage of tumor. Serum Ang-2 levels were significantly lower in stage I than in stage II (SMD: -0.51; 95% CI: -0.75 to -0.27; P < .001), in stage II than in stage III (SMD: -0.52; 95% CI: -0.80 to -0.24; P < .001), in stage III than in stage IV (SMD: -0.58; 95% CI: -0.93 to -0.23; P = .001). In addition, serum Ang-2 levels were higher in patients with lymph node metastasis (SMD: 1.06; 95% CI, 0.57-1.56; P < .001). Meanwhile, patients with lung cancer with higher levels of serum Ang-2 were associated with a significant poorer prognosis when compared to those with lower serum Ang-2 levels (HR: 1.64; 95% CI: 1.20-2.25; P = .002), and this role was further detected when stratified by ethnicity and histological type.

CONCLUSIONS

This systematic review and meta-analysis suggested that serum Ang-2 levels might be a potential predictor for staging, and were associated with prognosis of lung cancer.