Size of tumour as a risk factor for malignancy in patients with peripheral pulmonary nodules

Abstract

Peripheral pulmonary tumours are often quite diffi cult to diagnose and treat. Their detection brings immediately the problem of whether clinicians should just wait and observe or operate the patients. The AIM of this study was to determine if there is a direct correlation between tumour size and the risk for malignancy and whether the tumor size should be considered a risk factor for malignancy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between 1997 and 2009, 145 patients with peripheral pulmonary tumours of less than 3 cm in diameter underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) resection for the purpose of histologic examination of the tumor. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 62.60 ± 0.95 years. The youngest patient was 17 years old and the oldest -82. The study sample included 61 women and 84 men; the men were statistically signifi cantly more than the women (57.3% and 42.07%, respectively) (t = 2.74 , P < 0.01). The total number of patients we operated were 145 with 198 resected tumours. The diameter of the lesions ranged between 0.30 cm and 3 cm (mean 1.41 ± 0.06 cm). We found that 108 (54.55%) of the tumours were malignant, and 90 (45.45%) were benign, the difference between them failing to reach statistical signifi cance (t = 1.82, P > 0.05). The mean size of malignant lesions was statistically signifi cantly greater than that of benign tumours (1.62 ± 0.08 cm vs 1.15 ± 0.06 cm). CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that the bigger the diameter of the nodule, the greater the percentage share of malignant tumours, which means that the size of the tumour is an important risk factor for malignancy.

Correlation between CT imaging characteristics and pathological diagnosis for subcentimeter pulmonary nodules

“…Especially for malignant SCPNs, the degree of invasion gradually increased with increasing size. This is consistent with our previous research 33,34 . The results of our study also corroborated the finding that CT enhancement >15 HU is statistically significant for the detection of malignant SCPNs 35 .…”

“…This is consistent with our previous research. 33 , 34 The results of our study also corroborated the finding that CT enhancement >15 HU is statistically significant for the detection of malignant SCPNs. 35 However, enhancement combined with morphological classification has greater diagnostic value.…”

Serum sRANKL and sRANKL/OPG ratio: Novel biomarkers in non-small cell lung cancer

“…Clinically, the majority of lung cancer patients show no signs of disease in the early stages. For instance, certain patients with lung nodules have atypical imaging pictures or a tumor diameter <2.5 cm (23). The present study also analyzed the performance of the sRANKL level and the sRANKL/OPG ratio in the diagnosis of malignant versus benign lesions.…”