Objective: We aimed to identify patients with clinical Stage IA lung adenocarcinoma who are at high risk for distant recurrence to preoperatively organize treatment strategies.
Methods: We analyzed correlations between preoperative clinical factors and the incidence of distant recurrence in 609 patients with clinical Stage IA lung adenocarcinoma that had been completely resected at four institutions. We excluded 24 patients with only locoregional recurrence and analyzed data from 585 patients.
Results: Distant recurrence after complete resection was identified in 34 patients during a median follow-up period of 41.4 months. Multivariate Cox analysis identified solid tumor size on high-resolution computed tomography and the maximum standardized uptake value on F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography as independent predictors for distant recurrence-free survival. Receiver operating characteristic analyses showed that solid tumor size ≥1.7 cm and the maximum standardized uptake value ≥3.3 were optimal criteria with which to detect patients at high risk for distant recurrence. In fact, 3-year distant recurrence rates were higher in patients who met the criteria for high risk (n = 85) than those who did not (n = 500) (28.1% vs. 3.7%; P < 0.001). A similar trend was also found in patients with pathological node negative.
Conclusions: Solid tumor size on high-resolution computed tomography and the maximum standardized uptake value on F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography were clinical predictors of distant recurrence among patients with clinical Stage IA lung adenocarcinoma. Our findings might be useful to determine personalized therapeutic strategies including systemic therapy.
Keywords: lung surgery; radiology-PET; prognostic factors.