Jae Seok Lee1, Eun Kyung Kim2, Moonsik Kim3, Hyo Sup Shim4. 1. Department of Pathology, Samsung Changwon Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Changwon, Republic of Korea; Graduate School, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. 2. Department of Pathology, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea. 3. Department of Pathology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. 4. Department of Pathology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: shimhs@yuhs.ac.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The World Health Organization Classification of Lung Tumors considers "Spread Through Air Spaces (STAS)" as a form of invasion in lung adenocarcinoma. However, its existence as an independent pathologic entity rather than an artifact caused by spreading through a knife surface is still controversial. Therefore, we performed comprehensive analyses on the genetic and clinicopathologic characteristics of lung adenocarcinoma with STAS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 316 surgically resected lung adenocarcinoma cases were analyzed retrospectively. Detailed analyses were performed on clinical-histological-molecular features. Tumor STAS was defined as tumor cells within air spaces in the lung parenchyma beyond the edge of the main tumor. RESULTS: STAS was observed in 160 cases (50.6%). STAS was significantly related to lymphovascular invasion, lymph node metastasis, higher stage, and high-grade histologic subtype. STAS was frequently found in tumors with wild-type EGFR or ALK-rearrangement. Logistic regression analysis showed that STAS was significantly associated with absence of lepidic component, presence of micropapillary component, cribriform predominant type, lymphovascular invasion, and wild-type EGFR. Multivariate survival analysis demonstrated that STAS was independently associated with shorter recurrence-free survival. STAS was also associated with recurrences to extrathoracic sites as well as intrathoracic sites. CONCLUSION: STAS is associated with certain pathological and molecular subtypes. STAS might be a parameter for tumor aggressiveness in that it is strongly associated with poor prognostic factors and recurrence, including to extrathoracic sites.
OBJECTIVE: The World Health Organization Classification of Lung Tumors considers "Spread Through Air Spaces (STAS)" as a form of invasion in lung adenocarcinoma. However, its existence as an independent pathologic entity rather than an artifact caused by spreading through a knife surface is still controversial. Therefore, we performed comprehensive analyses on the genetic and clinicopathologic characteristics of lung adenocarcinoma with STAS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 316 surgically resected lung adenocarcinoma cases were analyzed retrospectively. Detailed analyses were performed on clinical-histological-molecular features. Tumor STAS was defined as tumor cells within air spaces in the lung parenchyma beyond the edge of the main tumor. RESULTS: STAS was observed in 160 cases (50.6%). STAS was significantly related to lymphovascular invasion, lymph node metastasis, higher stage, and high-grade histologic subtype. STAS was frequently found in tumors with wild-type EGFR or ALK-rearrangement. Logistic regression analysis showed that STAS was significantly associated with absence of lepidic component, presence of micropapillary component, cribriform predominant type, lymphovascular invasion, and wild-type EGFR. Multivariate survival analysis demonstrated that STAS was independently associated with shorter recurrence-free survival. STAS was also associated with recurrences to extrathoracic sites as well as intrathoracic sites. CONCLUSION: STAS is associated with certain pathological and molecular subtypes. STAS might be a parameter for tumor aggressiveness in that it is strongly associated with poor prognostic factors and recurrence, including to extrathoracic sites.
Authors: Tamás Zombori; Anita Sejben; László Tiszlavicz; Gábor Cserni; Regina Pálföldi; Edit Csada; József Furák Journal: Pathol Oncol Res Date: 2020-06-20 Impact factor: 3.201