Tumor size matters differently in pulmonary adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma

Lin, Pei-Ying; Chang, Yeun-Chung; Chen, Hsuan-Yu; Chen, Chen-Hao; Tsui, Hung-Chang; Yang, Pan-Chyr

doi:10.1016/j.lungcan.2009.04.017

« Previous Next »Lung Cancer
Volume 67, Issue 3 , Pages 296-300, March 2010

Tumor size matters differently in pulmonary adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma

Pei-Ying Lin
- Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
Yeun-Chung Chang
- Department of Radiology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
Hsuan-Yu Chen
- Institute of Statistical Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
Chen-Hao Chen
- College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Hung-Chang Tsui
- College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Pan-Chyr Yang
- Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
- College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Corresponding author at: College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, #7, Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan. Tel.: +886 2 2356 2905; fax: +886 2 2358 2867.

Received 30 January 2009; received in revised form 11 March 2009; accepted 27 April 2009. published online 27 May 2009.

Abstract

Little about primary tumor size and nodal/distant metastases among different cell types in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was discussed. This study aimed to investigate distinct associations between tumor size and nodal/distant metastases in pulmonary adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. The study also aimed to clarify the cutoff size relating to a higher likelihood of metastases. We retrospectively evaluated 932 NSCLC patients over a 3-year period and focused on cases with primary tumors less than 4.0cm in size. Our data showed that 2.5cm was the critical cutoff size regarding increased nodal/distant metastases in adenocarcinoma (p<0.001), but not in squamous cell carcinoma (p>0.05). In addition, the incidence of nodal/distant metastases reached a plateau of more than 80% in adenocarcinoma when the tumor size exceeded 2.5cm. In contrast, there was no such correlation observed in squamous cell carcinoma. This study showed that tumor size mattered differently in pulmonary adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.