With the development and improved availability of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT), an increasing number of patients are clinically diagnosed with lung cancer manifesting as ground-glass nodules. Although radical surgery is currently the mainstay of treatment for patients with early-stage lung cancer, traditional anatomic lobectomy and mediastinal lymph node dissection (MLND) are not ideal for every patient. Clinically, it is critical to adopt an appropriate approach to pulmonary lobectomy, determine whether it is necessary to perform MLND, establish standard criteria to define the scope of lymph node dissection, and optimize the decision-making process. Thereby avoiding over- and under-treatment of lung cancer with surgical intervention and achieving optimal results from clinical diagnosis and treatment are important issues before us.
Along with the popularity of low-dose computed tomography lung cancer screening, an increasing number of lung ground-glass opacity (GGO) lesions are detected. The pathology of GGO could be benign, but persistent GGO indicates early-stage lung cancer. Distinct from traditional lung cancer, GGO-featured lung cancer is more common in the young, nonsmokers and females. GGO-featured lung cancer represents an indolent type of malignancy with a long time to intervene. However, there is still no consensus on the screening, pathology, surgical procedure, and postoperative surveillance of GGO-featured lung cancer. Therefore, we proposed a personalized treatment strategy for GGO-featured lung cancer. The screening for GGO-featured lung cancer should be conducted at young age and low frequency. Adenocarcinoma in situ, minimally invasive adenocarcinoma, lepidic, and non-lepidic growth patterns could present as GGO. The following issues should be taken into consideration while determining the treatment of GGO-featured lung cancer: avoiding treating benign disease as malignancies, avoiding treating early-stage disease as advanced-stage disease, avoiding treating indolent malignancy as aggressive malignancy, and choosing appropriate timing to receive surgery without affecting life tracks and career developments. Bronchoscope and bone scan are not necessary for preoperative examinations of GGO-featured lung adenocarcinoma. For selected patients, sublobar resection without mediastinal lymph node dissection might be sufficient. Intraoperative frozen section is an effective method to guide resection strategy. Given the excellent survival of GGO-featured lung cancer, a less intensive postoperative surveillance strategy may be sufficient.
Along with the popularity of low-dose computed tomography lung cancer screening, an increasing number of early-stage lung cancers are detected. Radical lobectomy with systematic nodal dissection (SND) remains the standard-of-care for operable lung cancer patients. However, whether SND should be performed on non-metastatic lymph nodes remains controversy. Unnecessary lymph node dissection can increase the difficulty of surgery while also causing additional surgical damage. In addition, non-metastatic lymph nodes have been recently reported to play a key role in immunotherapy. How to reduce the surgical damage of mediastinal lymph node dissection for early-stage lung cancer patients is pivotal for modern concept of "minimally invasive surgery for lung cancer 3.0". The selective mediastinal lymph node dissection strategy aims to dissect lymph nodes with tumor metastasis while preserving normal mediastinal lymph nodes. Previous studies have shown that combination of specific tumor segment site, radiology and intraoperative frozen pathology characteristics can accurately predict the pattern of mediastinal lymph node metastasis. The personalized selective mediastinal lymph node dissection strategy formed from this has been successfully validated in a recent prospective clinical trial, providing an important basis for early-stage lung cancer patients to receive more personalized selective lymph node dissection with "precision surgery" strategies.
Recently, an editorial in Cell Research illuminated the concept of the curative time window for lung adenocarcinoma. Within this window, patients could achieve 100.0% 5-year or 10-year post-operative recurrence-free survival. Adenocarcinoma in situ and minimally invasive adenocarcinoma in pathology, as well as pure ground-glass opacity in radiology could be regarded as the curative time window. However, not all the patients can catch this time window. A precise understanding of this concept helps elevate the curative rate for lung cancer patients and mitigate the risks of overdiagnosis and overtreatment. This article delves into the accurate comprehension of the surgical curative time window for lung adenocarcinoma, proposed a clinical strategy for early-stage lung adenocarcinoma, and introduced clinical procedures comprising of this time window. It offers fresh insights into the timing of surgical interventions for lung adenocarcinoma.
The subtype of lung cancer that presents as subsolid nodules on imaging exhibits unique biological behavior and favorable prognosis. Recently, the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) issued "The 2023 American Associationfor Thoracic Surgery (AATS) expert consensus document: Management of subsolid lung nodules". This consensus, based on the latest literature and current clinical experience, proposes updated strategies for managing subsolid nodules. It emphasizes the correlation between imaging findings and pathological classification, individualized follow-up and surgical management strategies for subsolid nodules, and multimodal treatment approaches for multiple subsolid pulmonary nodules.
With the widespread application of high-resolution and low-dose computed tomography (CT), especially the increasing number of people participating in lung cancer screening projects or health examinations, the detection of pulmonary nodules is increasing. At present, the relevant guidelines for pulmonary nodules focus on how to follow up and diagnose, but the treatment is vague. And the guidelines of European and American countries are not suitable for East Asia. In order to standardize the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary nodules and address the issue of disconnection between existing guidelines and clinical practice, the Lung Cancer Medical Education Committee of the Chinese Medicine Education Association has organized domestic multidisciplinary experts, based on literature published by experts from East Asia, and referring to international guidelines or consensus, the "Chinese expert consensus on multidisciplinary minimally invasive diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary nodules" has been formed through repeated consultations and thorough discussions. The main content includes epidemiology, natural course, malignancy probability, follow-up strategies, imaging diagnosis, pathological biopsy, surgical resection, thermal ablation, and postoperative management of pulmonary nodules.
Objective To evaluate the strategy of chemoradiotherapy following endoscopic R0 resection for esophageal cancer in M3-T1b stage. Methods There were 45 esophageal cancer patients with M3-T1b stage with endoscopic R0 resection followed by additional chemoradiotherapy from ECETC (Esophageal Cancer Endoscopic Therapy Consortium) as a trial group with 34 males and 11 females at age of 61.37±7.14 years. There were 90 patients with esophagectomy from Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center as a control group with 63 males and 27 females at age of 61.04±8.17 years. Propensity score match (1:2) was used to balance the factors: gender, age, position, depth of invasion and lymphovascular invasion (LVI), which may influence the outcomes. Overall survival (OS) rate, relapse free survival (RFS) rate, and local recurrence rate were compared between the two groups. Result There was no statistical difference (HR=2.66 with 95%CI 0.87 to 8.11, P=0.179) in terms of OS rate between the two groups. One, two and three years overall survival rate of patients in the control group was 93%, 86%, and 84%, respectively. Nobody died in the trial group within 3 years after surgery. The RFS rate between the two groups didn’t significantly differ (HR=1.48, 95% CI 0.66 to 3.33, P=0.389). One, two and three years RFS rate of patients in the contorl group was 87%, 78%, and 76%, respectively, while 97%, 93%, and 73% in the trial group, respectively. The local recurrence rates between the two groups didn’t significantly differ either ( HR=0.53, 95%CI 0.13 to 2.18, P=0.314). One, two and three years local recurrence rate of patients in the control group was 5%, 6% and 6%, respectively, while 0%, 0% and 21% in the trial group, respectively. Conclusion Similar outcomes are found regarding OS, RFS and local recurrence rates between the two groups. The strategy of endoscopic R0 resection followed by additional chemoradiotherapy has prospect for the treatment of esophageal cancer in M3-T1b stage. And this kind of therapy may be provided for those with risk factors or can not tolerate surgery.