D2-40-positive lymphatic vessel invasion is not a poor prognostic factor in stage I lung adenocarcinoma

The present study investigates whether lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI) detected by D2-40 staining is a prognostic factor for stage I adenocarcinoma of the lung. We retrospectively reviewed 124 patients who underwent complete resection for stage I adenocarcinoma of the lung from January 1983 to June 2003. LVI was microscopically evaluated using D2-40 immunostaining. The median follow-up was 71 months. The LVI positive rate was 37%. The 5-year cancer-specific survival rates of the D2-40 positive LVI and negative groups were 88.8% and 84.3%, respectively (P = 0.630). The stage I lung adenocarcinoma patients who were determined to be LVI positive based on D2-40 immunostaining did not have a significantly poorer prognosis than the LVI negative cases. Thus, lymphatic microinvasion may not be a prognostic indicator in early lung cancer, although advanced LVI does appear to correlate with survival. It is therefore unnecessary to use D2-40 immunostaining to diagnose LVI in practical settings, and Hematoxylin-Eosin and Elastica van Gieson staining should continue to be used to predict the prognosis of patients with stage I lung adenocarcinoma.