title: Lymphatic vessel invasion in pathologic stage I and II non-small cell lung tumors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Tumor node-metastasis staging is essential for predicting the prognosis of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); however, its accuracy remains limited. The aim of this study was to establish the significant predictors of outcome for patients with pathologic stage I or II NSCLC.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed the records of patients with pathologic stage I and II NSCLC retrospectively. After the exclusion of those who underwent sublobar resection, received neoadjuvant treatment, or died within 30 days of surgery, 271 patients treated between January, 2004 and December, 2010 were analyzed. We investigated whether lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI) grade was associated with prognosis in stage I or II NSCLC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median age of the patients was 64 years. Of the 198 and 73 patients with pathologic stage I and stage II disease, respectively, 73 (26.9%) had LVI. Thirteen patients had a high degree of LVI. Although LVI was not associated with overall survival (p = 0.13), a high degree of LVI was associated with poor survival (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that diabetes mellitus (p = 0.001), tumor size (p < 0.001), LVI grade (p < 0.001), and pathologic stage II (p = 0.040) were all associated with overall survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A higher grade of LVI was predictive of a worse prognosis. Further study is required to establish the prognostic role of moderate and marked LVI in NSCLC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Bucheon St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Bucheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Woo
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: Kyung Soo
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young-Du
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Keon Hyun
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Jo
authors.forename: Hyung Joo
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Young Pil
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jae Kil
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D042601:Lymphatic Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis