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Published on: July 7, 2023
Spread Through Air Spaces Is a Prognostic Factor in Sublobar Resection of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Satoshi Shiono1, Makoto Endo1, Katsuyuki Suzuki1
1Department of Thoracic Surgery, Yamagata Prefectural Central Hospital, Yamagata, Japan.
Background:
Spread through air spaces (STAS) identified in lung cancer is considered to be a risk factor for recurrence after surgery. The purpose of this study is to clarify the prognostic impact of STAS in sublobar resections.
Methods:
We studied 514 patients with clinical stage IA cancers: 329 underwent lobectomies and 185 underwent sublobar resections. We assessed the prognostic impact of STAS in the cases with a sublobar resection for stage IA lung cancer versus the cases with a lobectomy.
Results:
STAS was found in 73 of 329 (22.2%) lobectomy cases and 31 of 185 (16.8%) sublobar resection cases. For overall survival, univariate analysis revealed that STAS was not a prognostic factor in the lobectomy group, but it was a significantly worse prognostic factor for the sublobar resection group in both univariate and multivariate analyses. For the recurrence-free rate, multivariate analysis showed STAS was not a risk factor in the lobectomy group, but it was a significant risk factor for the sublobar resection group in both univariate and multivariate analyses. Patients with STAS and sublobar resection had a significantly higher rate of pulmonary metastases than did patients with STAS and lobectomy (8 of 31 [25.8%] vs 6 of 73 [8.2%]).
Conclusions:
STAS is a prognostic factor of poor outcomes for sublobar resection in patients with lung cancer. The worse prognosis for sublobar resection would be associated with STAS.
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