Clinical significance of lymphatic vessel invasion in stage I non-small cell lung cancer patients

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the prognostic influence of lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI) in stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. From January 2004 to December 2007, LVI was detected in 57 patients with T1N0M0 NSCLC; therefore, 114 patients with the same pathology, T stage, and surgery method, but without LVI, were selected as the control group to compare survival. The overall survival and relapse-free survival rates were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test, and Cox proportional hazards analysis. The average follow-up length was 59.94 ± 23.1 months. The 5-year overall survival rates of the LVI-negative and the LVI-positive groups were 90.54 and 70.1%, respectively (P = 0.002). A multivariate analysis revealed LVI to be an independent predictive factor (hazard ratio = 4.562; P = 0.004). The 5-year overall survival rates for patients who received postoperative adjunctive therapy and those who did not in the LVI-positive group were 88.2 and 61.5%, respectively, with a P value less than 0.05 in both univariate and multivariate analyses. LVI is a poor prognostic factor in stage I NSCLC patients; postoperative adjunctive therapy is needed to improve the 1820 K.F. Ma et al.

Vascular invasion is an adverse prognostic factor in resected non–small‐cell lung cancer

“…Vascular invasion is recognized as an adverse prognostic factor in NSCLC , although there is no consensus on how to determine and report this feature. Previous studies are difficult to compare due to differences in populations, stage inclusion and histological criteria for vessel invasion.…”

“…Previous studies are difficult to compare due to differences in populations, stage inclusion and histological criteria for vessel invasion. Some groups find that lymph vessel involvement is an independent prognostic factor , others find the same for blood vessel invasion , and some focus on combined angiolymphatic invasion . However, vascular involvement has not been included in the proposed 8th edition of the TNM classification to be released in 2016 .…”