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Updated: May 12, 2025
Author Spotlight: A 3D Digital Model for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pulmonary Nodules
Published on: May 19, 2023
Largest dimension of ground-glass nodule-like lung cancer: Comparison of computed tomography imaging and resected
Jingyi Gao1,2, Xiaoran Chen3,4, Yingying Zheng1,5
1Shandong First Medical University and Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, China.
Purpose:
The largest dimension of the tumor (LDT) remains a key determinant of local tumor control regardless of surgical resection, radiotherapy, and image-guided thermal ablation. This prospective study aimed to determine the consistency of LDT by comparing computed tomography (CT) images of ground-glass nodule (GGN)-like lung cancer with resected pathological specimens.
Materials And Methods:
A total of 163 patients (54 males and 109 females, a mean age of 56.2 ± 10.9 years) with 163 lesions demonstrating GGN-like lung cancer (the largest dimension of ≤20 mm, pure GGNs in 49 and mixed GGNs in 114) underwent surgical resection from May 2023 to July 2024, with adenocarcinoma as the pathology type of all included patients. LDT for each patient with GGN-like lung cancer was evaluated by two-dimensional (2D) CT imaging (cross-section, 2D-LDT), a three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction system (3D-LDT), and pathological specimens (P-LDT). R version 4.2.1 software was used for statistical analyses.
Results:
The median LDT for measuring all lesions with GGN-like lung cancer were 10.0 mm, 11.6 mm, and 11.7 mm in 2D-LDT, 3D-LDT, and P-LDT, respectively. A significant difference was observed in the 2D-LDT compared with the 3D-LDT (P = 0.0002) as well as between the 2D-LDT and P-LDT (P = 0.0000118), but no statistically significant difference was found between the 3D-LDT and P-LDT (P = 0.7394).
Conclusions:
3D-LDT demonstrated high consistency with P-LDT for determining GGN-like lung cancer of ≤20 mm. Preoperative 2D-CT may be underestimated in comparison with pathological invasive LDT.
