Clinicoradiographic Predictors of Aggressive Biology in Lung Cancer With Ground Glass Components.

BACKGROUND: Ground glass opacities pose diagnostic challenges, and even after malignancy is confirmed, prognosis is often unclear. We sought to identify clinicoradiographic features that could predict aggressive tumor biology in lung adenocarcinoma with associated ground glass components.

METHODS: A retrospective review of patients with resected lung adenocarcinoma from 2008 to 2013 was performed. Detailed radiographic features were reviewed by two radiologists. Logistic regression was used to identify risks of poor differentiation or a composite outcome of nodal metastases and lymphovascular invasion.

RESULTS: In all, 79 patients met criteria for analysis. Larger tumor size (p = 0.04), increasing solid component (p = 0.01), pleural tags (p = 0.03), spiculation (p = 0.01), lobulation (p < 0.05), history of coronary artery disease (p = 0.04), and increasing number of pack-years smoking (p < 0.05) were associated with poorly differentiated tumors. However, after adjustment for size of the solid component, the associations between pleural tags, spiculation, and lobulation with poorly differentiated tumors were negated, whereas number of pack-years and history of coronary artery disease remained statistically significant (p = 0.01 and p = 0.03, respectively). There were no identified clinical or radiographic features associated with lymphovascular invasion/nodal metastasis.

CONCLUSIONS: Several radiographic features were associated with aggressive tumor biology, a well-known finding. However, we found that none of these radiographic features remained relevant after we adjusted for the size of the solid component, indicating that radiographic features are not as important as previously believed. Further research will be required to identify reliable markers associated with favorable tumor biology. These studies will ultimately be critical in informing prognosis or guiding extent of resection.