Limited pulmonary resection for peripheral small-sized adenocarcinoma of the lung

Abstract

Background It was recently reported that a limited pulmonary resection (segmentectomy or wedge resection) was not inferior to a lobectomy in the management of peripheral small-sized adenocarcinoma (tumor ≦ 20 mm) of the lung. Methods We retrospectively analyzed patients undergoing a lobectomy ( n = 114) and a limited resection ( n = 35) for peripheral small-sized adenocarcinoma of the lung during a 7-year period from April 2001 to March 2008. Our criteria for the limited resection of lung cancer were as follows: (1) adenocarcinoma of 10 mm or less in diameter and (2) adenocarcinoma of 11–20 mm in diameter, in which the ratio of the ground glass opacity is 50% or more, without pleural indentation on computed tomography. Additionally, the frozen sections of the tumors were intraoperatively diagnosed as Noguchi type A or B. The survival and clinical outcomes were analyzed. Results The 5-year survival rates of the lobectomy group and limited resection groups were 89.2% and 100%, respectively. No recurrence was seen in the limited resection group. Conclusions Our results suggest that our criteria for limited resection were adequate for the management of small-sized adenocarcinoma of the lung.