Work

Relative Loss of Small Pulmonary Vessels on Imaging and Risk of Recurrence of Resected Lung Adenocarcinoma

Year: 2023

Type: article

Abstract: To the Editor: Adenocarcinoma is the most common lung cancer subtype and represents an increasing proportion of all lung cancers (1).Although the prognosis of resectable, early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is overall highly favorable, patients with recurrent disease experience markedly worse outcomes than those without recurrence, including a strikingly higher risk of death (2).Pulmonary vascular pathology, including pulmonary hypertension, may contribute to high mortality in patients with lung cancer (3, 4).Image analysis-based quantification of the relative loss (or "pruning") of small pulmonary vessels is a promising noninvasive biomarker of vasculopathy that is linked to more severe lung disease and pulmonary hypertension (5-7).The objective of this study was to determine if vascular pruning, quantified using computed tomography (CT) imaging, is associated with the risk of cancer recurrence and/or death in patients with early-stage lung adenocarcinoma.

Source: Annals of the American Thoracic Society

DOI: 10.1513/annalsats.202303-191rl