Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 3, 2025
Next Generation Sequencing for the Detection of Actionable Mutations in Solid and Liquid Tumors
Published on: September 20, 2016
Subsolid Lung Adenocarcinomas: Radiological, Clinical and Pathological Features and Outcomes
Jinglei Lai1, Qiao Li2, Fangqiu Fu1
1Department of Thoracic Surgery and State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China; Institution of Thoracic Oncology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Subsolid lung nodules, classified as pure ground-glass nodules (GGN) and heterogeneous GGN, show excellent prognoses. Real part-solid nodules (rPSN) have a worse recurrence-free survival, with clinical T category and gender impacting outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Pulmonology
- Oncology
- Radiology
Background:
- Subsolid lung nodules in lung adenocarcinoma often present with favorable prognoses.
- Radiological and clinicopathological features influence oncological outcomes.
- Classification of subsolid nodules aids in predicting patient prognosis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To comprehensively investigate the radiological and clinicopathological features of subsolid lung nodules.
- To analyze the oncological outcomes based on nodule classification.
- To identify prognostic factors for recurrence-free survival in lung adenocarcinoma.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of 865 patients with surgically resected clinical IA subsolid lung adenocarcinoma.
- Classification into pure ground-glass nodules (pGGN), heterogeneous GGN (hGGN), and real part-solid nodules (rPSN) based on imaging characteristics.
- Comparison of clinicopathological features and survival times across the three groups.
Main Results:
- Tumor size, solid component size, and invasive adenocarcinoma proportion increased significantly from pGGNs to hGGNs to rPSNs.
- Adenocarcinomas with lepidic patterns were more common in hGGNs than rPSNs after adjusting for solid component size.
- Patients with rPSNs had significantly worse recurrence-free survival (5-year: 91.9%) compared to pGGNs and hGGNs (100%).
- Clinical T category and gender were independent prognostic factors for recurrence-free survival in the rPSN group.
Conclusions:
- Heterogeneous GGNs represent an intermediate subtype between pGGNs and rPSNs.
- Both pGGNs and hGGNs demonstrate excellent oncological outcomes.
- rPSNs exhibit a worse prognosis, with clinical T category and gender being significant prognostic indicators.
