Local Recurrence at the Bronchial Stump Site of Post-Operative Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients: Comparison of CT Findings and Bronchoscopy

Abstract

Purpose: To compare computed tomography (CT) images and bronchoscopic findings of local tumor recurrence at the bronchial stump site in post-operative non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted to review the CT images of 9 lung cancer cases that recurred at the bronchial stump site on 576 resected primary non-small cell lung cancers over a 9-year period. The CT images of the bronchial stump site recurrence were classified as: bronchial wall thickening, nodular or endobronchial polypoid lesion, multiplicity, and enhancement patterns. We classified the bronchoscopic findings based on the revised classification by the Japan Lung Cancer Society. Results: The histologic types of the 9 cases of lung cancer that recurred, included 7 squamous cell carcinomas, 1 adenocarcinoma, and 1 adenoid cystic carcinoma. The CT findings included bronchial wall thickening with nodules (n = 6) and endobronchial polypoid nodules (n = 3) with heterogeneous enhancement. The CT findings were further classified as nodular infiltrating type (n = 5), polypoid type (n = 3) and superficial infiltrating type (n = 1) on bronchoscopy. Conclusion: Both a bronchoscopy and CT can be used as a complementary or alternative tool in evaluating bronchial stump site recurrences.