Emphysema is a chronic progressive disease characterized by abnormal terminal bronchioles. Patients in end-stage have limited treatment. Lung volume reduction surgery(LVRS) is to remove the non-functional emphysematous lung tissue with the aim of palliating symptoms in selected patient with severe emphysema. It provides a new therapeutic method for emphysema. When LVRS is widely accepted after 1990s, a large number of institutions carried out the researches on surgical approaches, perioperative mortality, long-term efficacy and complications. Its targeted beneficial patients and surgical safety had been confirmed too. Bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR) successfully carried out on the basis of the development of LVRS and bronchoscopy. This article reviews the surgical approaches, safety and efficacy of LVRS and BLVR in patients with emphysema.
Small cell lung cancer is a pathological type with higher malignancy in lung cancer, and has biological characteristics different from non-small cell lung cancer, such as rapid growth, high malignancy and poor prognosis. Mediastinal lymph node and distant metastasis occur frequently. In recent years, the treatment of limited-stage small cell lung cancer has been stagnant, and various treatments are poor. The operation is mainly suitable for patients with small cell lung cancer (T1-2N0M0). Small cell lung cancer has strong sensitivity to chemotherapy, but the clinical application of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in T1-2N0M0 small cell lung cancer remains controversial. This article reviewed the value of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of T1-2N0M0 small cell lung cancer.
Lung cancer is the most common malignant tumor in the world and the leading cause of cancer-related death. Due to the lack of effective early diagnosis methods, the prognosis of lung cancer is poor, but compared with advanced lung cancer, the survival rate of early lung cancer is greatly improved. Therefore, early diagnosis of lung cancer is crucial. As a major epigenetic modification, DNA methylation plays an important role in the development of lung cancer. A large number of studies have shown that detection of tumor suppressor gene methylation is an ideal early diagnosis method for lung cancer. With the continuous improvement of detection technology, methylation detection of multiple genes can be achieved. And it is found that multi-gene methylation combined detection of tissue samples obtained by minimally invasive operation such as puncture of diseased tissue and puncture of lymph node tissue, as well as the noninvasive samples such as peripheral blood, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and sputum have higher detection rate and higher sensitivity and specificity than single gene methylation. It is an ideal method for early diagnosis of lung cancer.
ObjectiveTo investigate the CT features and clinicopathological features of thin-walled cystic lung cancer with the largest diameter less than or equal to 3 cm.MethodsThe CT features and clinicopathological data of 26 thin-walled cystic lung cancer patients diagnosed by chest CT and surgical or puncture pathology were retrospectively analyzed. There were 16 males and 10 females, with an average age of 62 years.ResultsThe lesions were distributed in different pulmonary lobes, all of which were peripheral. The maximum diameter of lesion was 21.4 mm on average, and the maximum diameter of cyst was 12.9 mm on average. Among them, there were 19 patients of lobulation sign, 18 patients of spicule sign, 16 patients of pleural indentation, 9 patients of vascular convergence sign, 7 patients of bronchus sign, 21 patients of irregular inner wall, 26 patients of uneven thickening of cystic wall, 18 patients of intra-cystic separation, and 10 patients of vessels through the cystic cavity. The pathological types were all adenocarcinoma and 24 patients were invasive adenocarcinoma.ConclusionAll patients were peripheral adenocarcinoma. CT not only shows the common typical signs of lung cancer, but also has the characteristic fertures of irregular inner wall, intra-cystic separation and vessels through the cystic cavity.
ObjectiveTo investigate the CT signs and clinicopathological features of peripheral cavitary lung adenocarcinoma with the largest diameter less than or equal to 3 cm.Methods From January 2015 to December 2017, the CT signs and clinicopathological fertures of 51 patients with ≤3 cm peripheral cavitary lung adenocarcinoma diagnosed by chest CT and surgical pathology were retrospectively analyzed. Furthermore, CT signs and clinicopathological features of thick-walled cavitary lung adenocarcinoma and thin-walled cavitary lung adenocarcinoma were compared. There were 29 males and 22 females at age of 62 (56, 67) years.ResultsThere were 27 thick-walled cavitary lung adenocarcinoma and 24 thin-walled cavitary lung adenocarcinoma. Thick-walled cavitary adenocarcinoma had greater SUVmax [6.5 (3.7, 9.7) vs. 2.2 (1.4, 3.8), P=0.019], larger cavity wall thickness (11.8±4.6 mm vs. 7.6±3.7 mm, P=0.001), larger tumor tissue size [2.1 (1.7, 2.8) cm vs. 1.6 (1.2, 2.0) cm, P=0.006], and more solid nodules (17 patients vs. 8 patients, P=0.035). Thin-walled cavitary adenocarcinoma had more smoking history (12 patients vs. 6 patients, P=0.038), larger cavity size [12.3 (9.2, 16.6) mm vs. 4.4 (2.8, 7.1) mm, P=0.000], and larger proportion of cavities [0.30 (0.19, 0.37) vs. 0.03 (0.01, 0.09), P=0.000]. On CT signs, there were more features of irregular inner wall (19 patients vs. 6 patients, P=0.000), intra-cystic separation (16 patients vs. 6 patients, P=0.001) and vessels through the cystic cavity (10 patients vs. 1 patient, P=0.001) in thin-walled caviraty lung adenocarcinoma.ConclusionPeripheral cavitary lung adenocarcinoma of ≤3 cm on chest CT has characteristic manifestations in clinical, imaging and pathology, and there is a statistical difference between thick-walled cavitary lung adenocarcinoma and thin-walled cavitary lung adenocarcinoma.
Objective To investigate the significance of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of limited-disease small cell lung cancer (LD-SCLC). Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 55 LD-SCLC patients who underwent surgery in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, China-Japan Friendship Hospital from May 2007 to August 2016. There were 42 males and 13 females with a mean age of 57 years. All patients underwent clinical staging before treatment. According to the different treatments, the patients were divided into two groups, a preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy group and a direct surgery group. The comparison of long-term survival rates was made between the two groups. Results Among the 55 patients, median survival time was 27 months. The 1-, 3-, 5-year survival rate was 89.1%, 45.0%, 33.8% respectively. Treatment methods and clinical N stage were significantly different in prognosis (P<0. 05). The results of Cox proportional hazards regression model showed that clinical N stage was prognostic factor of LD-SCLC patients (P<0. 05). Conclusion Patients with clinical stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ SCLC are better to receive direct surgery. For patients with clinical stage Ⅲ, it is recommended to reach partial response or complete response with neoadjuvant chemotherapy before surgery. The status of lymph node metastasis is closely related to survival, thus identifying the accurate clinical stage is crucial before treatment.
ObjectiveTo investigate the mediastinal lymph node metastasis of cT1a-cN0M0 lung adenocarcinoma, so as to provide a theoretical basis for intraoperative lymph node dissection in patients with early stage lung adenocarcinoma.MethodsClinicopathological features of lung adenocarcinoma patients who received operation in our hospital from 2017 to 2018 were collected. A total of 667 patients including 241 male and 426 female patients at age of 59 (16, 87) years were included. There were 234 patients with pure ground glass nodules, 98 patients with ground glass-predominant tumor, 199 patients with consolidation-predominant tumor and 136 patinets with solid tumor in the study. Postoperative N1 lymph node metastasis occurred in 30 patients and N2 lymph node metastasis occurred in 52 patients.ResultsThe result of univariate analysis showed that male (P=0.014), higher carcino-embryonic antigen levels (P<0.001), larger nodal diameter (P<0.001), larger consolidation tumor ratio (P<0.001), smaller tumor disappearance ratio (P<0.001), solid nodules (P<0.001), cavitary sign (P=0.005), lobulation sign (P=0.002), spicule sign (P=0.003), pleural indentation sign (P=0.001), bronchus sign (P=0.025) were risk factors for mediastinal lymph node metastasis. In terms of pathology, the N2 positive group had larger size of pathological tissue (P<0.001), more N1 lymph node metastasis (P<0.001), higher pathology T stage (P<0.001), more spread through air space (P=0.001), more pleural invasion (P<0.001), and more lymphovascular invasion (P<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that lymphovascular invasion (OR=6.9, 95%CI 2.3-20.7, P=0.001), larger consolidation tumor ratio (OR=109.6, 95%CI 3.8-3 124.3, P=0.006), cavitary sign (OR=3.1, 95%CI 1.1-8.3, P=0.028) and N1 lymph node metastasis (OR=15.7, 95%CI 6.7-36.4, P<0.001) were independent risk factors for mediastinal lymph node metastasis.ConclusionFor lung adenocarcinoma, mediastinal lymph node metastasis will not occur in ground glass nodule and ground glass-predominant tumor patients. The probability of mediastinal lymph node metastasis increases with the increase of solid components and presence of cavitary sign. Therefore, different types of lymph node resection can be considered for patients with different imaging findings.
ObjectiveTo investigate the predictive value of preoperative radiological features on spread through air spaces (STAS) in stage cⅠA lung adenocarcinoma with predominant ground-glass opacity, and to provide a basis for the selection of surgical methods for these patients.MethodsThe clinical data of 768 patients with stage cⅠA lung adenocarcinoma undergoing operation in our hospital from 2017 to 2018 were reviewed, and 333 early stage lung adenocarcinoma patients with predominant ground-glass opacity were selected. There were 92 males and 241 females, with an average age of 57.0±10.0 years. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 22.0.ResultsSTAS-positive patients were mostly invasive adenocarcinoma (P=0.037), and had more micropapillary component (P<0.001) and more epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations (P=0.020). There were no statistically significant differences between the STAS-positive and STAS-negative patients in other clinicopathological features. Univariate analysis showed that the maximum diameter of tumor in lung window (P=0.029), roundness (P=0.035), maximum diameter of solid tumor component in lung window (P<0.001), consolidation/tumor ratio (CTR, P<0.001), maximum area of the tumor in mediastinum window (P=0.001), tumor disappearance ratio (TDR, P<0.001), average CT value (P=0.001) and lobulation sign (P=0.038) were risk factors for STAS positive. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the CTR was an independent predictor of STAS (OR=1.05, 95%CI 1.02 to 1.07, P<0.001), and the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.71 (95%CI 0.58 to 0.85, P=0.002). When the cutoff value was 19%, the sensitivity of predicting STAS was 66.7%, and the specificity was 75.2%.ConclusionCTR is a good radiological feature to predict the occurrence of STAS in early lung adenocarcinoma with predominant ground-glass opacity. For the stagecⅠA lung adenocarcinoma with predominant ground-glass opacity and CTR ≥19%, the possibility of STAS positive is greater, and sublobar resection needs to be carefully considered.
ObjectiveTo compare the effectiveness and safety of preoperative lung localization by microcoil and anchor with scaled suture.MethodsA total of 286 patients underwent CT-guided puncture localization consecutively between October 2019 and December 2020 in our hospital. According to the different methods of localization, they were divided into a microcoil group (n=139, including 49 males and 90 females, aged 57.92±10.51 years) and an anchor group (n=147, including 53 males and 94 females, aged 56.68±11.31 years). The clinical data of the patients were compared.ResultsA total of 173 nodules were localized in the microcoil group, and 169 nodules in the anchor group. The localization success rate was similar in the two groups. However, the anchor group was significantly better than the microcoil group in the localization time (8.15±2.55 min vs. 9.53±3.08 min, P=0.001), the pathological receiving time (30.46±14.41 min vs. 34.96±19.75 min, P=0.029), and the hemoptysis rate (10.7% vs. 30.1%, P=0.001), but the pneumothorax rate was higher in the anchor group (21.3% vs. 11.0%, P=0.006).ConclusionPreoperative localization of small pulmonary nodules using anchor with suture is practical and safe. Due to its simplicity and convenience, it is worth of promotion in the clinic.
ObjectiveTo assess the accuracy of CT features of lung nodules (≤3 cm) in predicting the accuracy of the pathological subtype and degree of infiltration of adenocarcinoma. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 333 patients with non-cavitary pulmonary nodules diagnosed as adenocarcinoma by surgery and pathology in the China-Japan Friendship Hospital from 2011 to 2018, including 108 males and 225 females, aged 16-82 (59.57±10.16) years. The basic clinical data and CT characteristics of the patients were recorded. ResultsWhen the average CT value was ≥−507 Hu, the maximum diameter of the lung window was ≥14.5 mm, and the solid component ratio was ≥5.0%, it indicated more likely the invasive adenocarcinoma (IAC). The higher the average CT value of the nodule, the larger the maximum diameter of the lung window, and the more solid components, the higher the degree of infiltration. CT morphological features (including burrs, lobes, vascular signs, bronchial signs, pleural stretch or depression signs) were more common in IAC. Among them, burrs were more common in acinar adenocarcinoma and papillary adenocarcinoma. In invasive adenocarcinoma, the higher the risk of recurrence of the pathological subtype, the greater the average CT value. When the average CT value of IAC was >−106 Hu, and the proportion of solid components was ≥70.5%, the histological subtypes were more inclined to micropapillary/solid predominant adenocarcinoma. Conclusion The evaluation of CT features of lung nodules can improve the predictive value of histopathological types of lung adeno- carcinoma, thereby optimizing clinical treatment decisions and obtaining more ideal therapeutic effects.