T he reduction of lung cancer mortality by almost 20% in the National Lung Screening Trial can be partially attributed to the extensive use of low-dose CT for lung cancer screening in high-risk populations, which led to the improved detection of pulmonary nodules and early stage lung cancers (1,2). Pulmonary nodules are classified as solid, pure ground-glass, and part-solid nodules (PSNs) based on CT phenotyping, with PSNs being an important cancer predictor in the Brock model that is widely used to assess the malignant risk of pulmonary nodules (3). Moreover, adenocarcinomas manifesting as PSNs have been suggested to be a distinct subtype, most of which are confirmed as adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS), minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA), or invasive adenocarcinoma (IA) by abnormality, requiring a different management strategy due to different clinical-pathologic characteristics (4). Furthermore, evidence from histological specimens suggests that the solid components of lung nodules have a close-knit association with the invasive component of adenocarcinomas (5-7). Among the different subtypes of lung adenocarcinoma, IA has the worst prognosis, with the others having an almost 100% survival probability (8). Therefore, lobectomy is often recommended for patients with IA, whereas limited resections are suggested for patients with AIS or MIA (9).