Predicting prognosis using a pathological tumor cell proportion in stage I lung adenocarcinoma

Tumor size is a valuable prognostic factor because it is considered a measure of tumor burden. However, it is not always correlated with the tumor burden. This study aimed to identify the prognostic role of pathological tumor proportional size using the proportion of tumor cells on the pathologic report after curative resection in pathologic stage I lung adenocarcinoma.

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 630 patients with pathologic stage I lung adenocarcinoma after lung resection for curative aims. According to the pathologic data, the proportion of tumor cells was reviewed and pathological tumor proportional size was estimated by multiplying the maximal diameter of the tumor by the proportion of tumor cells. We investigated the prognostic role of pathological tumor proportional size.

The median tumor size was 2 cm (range: 0.3-4), and the median pathological tumor proportional size was 1.5 (range: 0.12-3.8). This value was recategorized according to the current tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) classification, and 184 patients showed down staging compared with the current stage. The survival curve for disease-free survival using pathological tumor proportional size showed more distinction than the current stage classification. Multivariate analysis revealed that a down stage indicated a favorable prognostic factor.

Pathological tumor cell proportional size may be associated with prognosis in stage I lung adenocarcinoma. If the pathological tumor proportional size shows a downward stage, it may indicate a smaller tumor burden and better prognosis.