Prognostic significance of lymphovascular invasion in Stage I lung cancer

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22025080

Eur Surg Res. 2011 Oct 21;47(4):211-217. [Epub ahead of print]
Prognostic Significance of Lymphovascular Invasion for Patients with Stage I Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.
Hanagiri T, Takenaka M, Oka S, Shigematsu Y, Nagata Y, Shimokawa H, Uramoto H, Yamada S, Tanaka F.
Source
Second Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan.

Abstract
Aims: This study retrospectively investigated the clinical significance of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) following a complete resection for stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: A total of 226 patients who underwent a complete resection for pathological stage I NSCLC were examined. Results: Lymphatic invasion was pathologically diagnosed as ly0 in 156 patients, ly1 in 65, and ly2 in 5 patients. The pathological vascular invasion was diagnosed as v0 in 178 patients, v1 in 35, v2 in 10, and v3 in 3 patients. The 5-year survival rate after surgery of the patients with and without lymphatic invasion was 76.8 and 90.6%, respectively. There was a significantly more unfavorable prognosis in patients with lymphatic invasion (p = 0.042). The 5-year survival rate of the patients with vascular invasion was also significantly more unfavorable (67.8%) than that of patients without vascular invasion (90.4%; p = 0.004). LVI was found to significantly correlate with tumor size and the presence of pleural invasion. Conclusion: The LVI of NSCLC is a significant prognostic factor in patients with stage I tumors. In future clinical trials, it is necessary to evaluate the efficacy of adjuvant therapy for the selection of patients according to this criterion.