CT characteristics and pathological implications of early stage (T1N0M0) lung adenocarcinoma with pure ground-glass opacity

• Published in: European radiology Vol. 25; no. 9; pp. 2532 - 2540
• Main Authors: Jin, Xin, Zhao, Shao-hong, Gao, Jie, Wang, Dian-jun, Wu, Jian, Wu, Chong-chong, Chang, Rui-ping, Ju, Hai-yue
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.09.2015; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adenocarcinoma - diagnostic imaging; Adenocarcinoma of Lung; Adult; Aged; Chest; Classification; Diagnostic Radiology; Early Detection of Cancer - methods; Female; Gender; Hospitals; Humans; Imaging; Internal Medicine; Interventional Radiology; Lung - diagnostic imaging; Lung cancer; Lung Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Neuroradiology; Pathology; Radiology; ROC Curve; Thoracic surgery; Tomography, X-Ray Computed - methods; Ultrasound; Variance analysis; Beijing China; China; Adenocarcinoma; Pathology; Tomography, X-ray computed; Ground glass opacity; Lung neoplasms
• ISSN: 0938-7994; 1432-1084
• DOI: 10.1007/s00330-015-3637-z

Objectives To analyze the CT characteristics and pathological classification of early lung adenocarcinoma (T1N0M0) with pure ground-glass opacity (pGGO). Methods Ninety-four lesions with pGGO on CT in 88 patients with T1N0M0 lung adenocarcinoma were selected from January 2010 to December 2012. All lesions were confirmed by pathology. CT appearances were analyzed including lesion location, size, density, uniformity, shape, margin, tumour-lung interface, internal and surrounding malignant signs. Lesion size and density were compared using analysis of variance, lesion size also assessed using ROC curves. Gender of patients, lesion location and CT appearances were compared using χ2-test. Results There were no significant differences in gender, lesion location and density with histological invasiveness (P > 0.05). The ROC curve showed that the possibility of invasive lesion was 88.73 % when diameter of lesion was more than 10.5 mm. There was a significant difference between lesion uniformity and histological invasiveness (P = 0.01). There were significant differences in margin, tumour-lung interface, air bronchogram with histological invasiveness ( P = 0.02,P = 0.00,P = 0.048). The correlation index of lesion size and uniformity was r = 0.45 (P = 0.00). Conclusions The lesion size and uniformity, tumour-lung interface and the air bronchogram can help predict invasive extent of early stage lung adenocarcinoma with pGGO. Key Points • CT characteristics and pathological classification of pGGO lung adenocarcinoma smaller than 3 cm • The optimal cut-off value for discriminating preinvasive from invasive lesions was 10.5 mm • Uniformity was significant difference between histological subtypes and correlated with lesion size • Tumour margin, tumour-lung interface and air bronchogram showed different between histological types • No significant difference in gender, lesion location and density with histological subtypes