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Updated: Apr 23, 2026
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Published on: January 30, 2026
Pulmonary adenocarcinomas appearing as part-solid ground-glass nodules: is measuring solid component size a better
Eui Jin Hwang1, Chang Min Park, Youngjin Ryu
1Department of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, and Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, 101, Daehangno, , Jongno-gu,, Seoul, 110-744, Korea.
Objective:
To assess whether measuring the solid portion of adenocarcinomas appearing as part-solid ground-glass nodules (GGNs) can predict a patient's prognosis accurately and how the prognosis corresponds to that of solid nodules.
Methods:
501 patients (solid nodule group, 304; part-solid GGN group, 197) underwent curative surgery for stage I adenocarcinomas. Maximal diameters of the whole lesion including ground-glass opacities (D whole ) and solid components only (D solid ) were measured on CT. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated from the date of surgery.
Results:
D solid was a significant prognostic factor in the part-solid GGN group, while D whole was not. Part-solid GGNs with D solid ≤2 cm showed significantly better DFS (P = 0.016) and OS (P = 0.004) than solid nodules; however, those with D solid >2 cm did not show a significant difference. Hazard ratio (HR) for increase in D solid was significantly greater in part-solid GGNs than in solid nodules (P = 0.009). For OS, HR for increase in D solid was greater in part-solid GGNs than in solid nodule, which was marginally not significant (P = 0.060).
Conclusion:
D solid was better than D whole for prognosis prediction of adenocarcinomas appearing as part-solid GGNs. In addition, the influence of D solid on prognosis in the part-solid GGN group was greater than in the solid nodule group.
Key Points:
• Dsolid is a better prognosis indicator than Dsolid in part-solid GGN adenocarcinomas • Part-solid GGN adenocarcinoma show better prognosis than solid adenocarcinomas when Dsolid ≤2 cm • Dsolid has greater prognostic influence in part-solid GGN adenocarcinomas than solid adenocarcinomas.
