title: The effect of blood vessel invasion on prognosis of operated stage I non-small cell lung cancer patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A retrospective study was conducted to identify the effect of blood vessel invasion on prognosis in surgically treated stage I non-small cell lung cancer patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 71 consecutive patients who had undergone complete resection for stage I primary non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) between 1998 and 2007 were evaluated. All pathological specimens were examined for evidence of blood vessel invasion. The follow-up period was 5-118 months. Survival data were analyzed for all patients using the Kaplan-Meier test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 63 men and 8 women (mean age 59.2, age range 35-86). The most common tumor types were adenocarcinoma (35 patients, 49 %) and squamous cell carcinoma (26 patients, 37 %). Twenty-five patients (35 %) had stage IA disease, and 46 had (65 %) stage IB disease. In 13 cases (18 %) blood vessel invasion was demonstrated, whereas in the remaining 58 cases there was no evidence of vascular invasion. Minimum and maximum follow-up periods were 5 and 118 months respectively, with a mean of 41.76 +/- 27 months (median 33.5 months). Overall disease-free survival was 79.6 +/- 6.4 months: 38.3 +/- 12.0 months for the group with blood vessel invasion and 87.5 +/- 6.7 months for the remaining group. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( P < 0.003). Overall survival rate was 86.7 +/- 6.7 months: 44.5 +/- 11.3 months for blood vessel invasion group and 98.2 +/- 6.2 months for the remaining group. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vascular invasion can be an important factor for predicting unfavorable prognosis in stage I NSCLC patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Ege University Medical Faculty, Izmir, Turkey. kutsal.turhan@ege.edu.tr
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Turhan
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Samancilar
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Cagirici
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Goksel
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nart
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cakan
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cok
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies