Micropapillary pattern of stageIIIA-N2 lung adenocarcinoma is a prognostic factor after adjuvant chemoradiotherapy.

Abstract

Aim: This study aims to investigate the significanceof a micropapillary pattern in stage IIIA-N2 lung adenocarcinoma after adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Patients & methods: A total of 257 patients with stage IIIA-N2 lung adenocarcinoma were enrolled in this study. Patients were classified into three groups based on the proportion of micropapillary components: micropapillarynegative, micropapillary minor component and micropapillary predominant component. Results: The micropapillary predominant group had the shortest median disease-free survivaland overall survivaltimes compared with the micropapillary minor component and micropapillarynegative groups (median overall survival time: 54months vs64months vsnot reached;p=0.004). Furthermore, the micropapillary pattern was an independent prognostic factor for disease-free survival and overall survival (p<0.05). Conclusion: The micropapillary pattern of IIIA-N2 lung adenocarcinoma isrelated to worse prognosis.