Original Article
PROXIMAL BRONCHIAL INVASION OF LUNG CANCER: A CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL STUDY
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the characteristics of proximal bronchial invasion of lung cancer for different types.
Methods: Proximal bronchus of 151 operatively resected specimens of hilar type lung cancer were selected for cross-sectional pathological study. Forty-one specimens were obtained from total pulmonectomy, and 110 from pulmonary lobectomy.
Results: Evidence showed that the direct invasion of tumor cells through the submucosal layer or multiple layers was the major form of lung cancer spread; 96.6% of the cancerous invasion occurred at the proximal bronchial wall less than 1.5 cm apart from the margin of the cancer. The extension of invasion was correlated with the histopathologic type of cancer, mode of invasion and TNM classification (pT, pN). Besides, the invasion in the bronchial wall by metastatic lymph nodes was also an important way for the cancer to spread.
Conclusion: In order to achieve the radical removal of a tumor, it is imperative to keep a distance of 1.5 cm or more between the excision margin of the bronchus and the tumor, and to completely resect the hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes.
Methods: Proximal bronchus of 151 operatively resected specimens of hilar type lung cancer were selected for cross-sectional pathological study. Forty-one specimens were obtained from total pulmonectomy, and 110 from pulmonary lobectomy.
Results: Evidence showed that the direct invasion of tumor cells through the submucosal layer or multiple layers was the major form of lung cancer spread; 96.6% of the cancerous invasion occurred at the proximal bronchial wall less than 1.5 cm apart from the margin of the cancer. The extension of invasion was correlated with the histopathologic type of cancer, mode of invasion and TNM classification (pT, pN). Besides, the invasion in the bronchial wall by metastatic lymph nodes was also an important way for the cancer to spread.
Conclusion: In order to achieve the radical removal of a tumor, it is imperative to keep a distance of 1.5 cm or more between the excision margin of the bronchus and the tumor, and to completely resect the hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes.
