{"title":"Pulmonary Subsolid Nodules: Upfront Surgery or Watchful Waiting?","authors":"Fenglan Li, Linlin Qi, Changfa Xia, Jianing Liu, Jiaqi Chen, Shulei Cui, Liyan Xue, Sainan Cheng, Xu Jiang, Jianwei Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.chest.2024.12.028","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Patients with pulmonary subsolid nodules (SSNs) of ≤ 2 cm in diameter and a consolidation to tumor ratio (CTR) of ≤ 0.25 have good postoperative prognoses, but their management remains controversial.</p><p><strong>Research question: </strong>Does upfront surgical intervention lead to higher survival than watchful waiting in patients with SSNs with diameter of ≤ 2 cm and CTR of ≤ 0.25?</p><p><strong>Study design and methods: </strong>Patients with SSNs who underwent thin-section CT scan examination between February 2005 and December 2018 were followed up retrospectively until December 2023 or until all-cause death or lung cancer recurrence or metastases. Patients were divided into observation and surgery groups and categorized further by the diameter and CTR of these SSNs. Event-free survival (EFS) was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier analysis, multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards modeling, propensity score matching, and a noninferiority trial.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Data from 1,676 patients were included (surgery group, n = 1,122 [66.9%]; observation group, n = 554 [33.1%]), with a median EFS of 70.2 months (range, 0.3-213.6 months). Comparing the observation group with the surgery group, the 5-year EFS rates in category A (diameter ≤ 2 cm and CTR ≤ 0.25), category A1 (diameter ≤ 1 cm and CTR ≤ 0.25), category A2 (1 cm < diameter ≤ 2 cm and CTR ≤ 0.25), and the combined category (diameter ≤ 3 cm and CTR ≤ 0.5) were 100% vs 99.0%, 100% vs 99.6%, 100% vs 98.6%, and 100% vs 97.4%, respectively. In the above categories of SSNs, the EFS of the observation group was noninferior to that of the surgery group (P < .001 for noninferiority), and the results remained consistent after propensity score matching. Category A2 achieved the maximum hazard ratio of 0.0668, with corresponding 5-year EFS rates for the observation and surgery groups being 100% vs 93.3%, respectively.</p><p><strong>Interpretation: </strong>In patients with SSNs of ≤ 2 cm in diameter and CTR of ≤ 0.25, watchful waiting could be more appropriate than upfront surgical intervention.</p>","PeriodicalId":9782,"journal":{"name":"Chest","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":9.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Chest","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2024.12.028","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Patients with pulmonary subsolid nodules (SSNs) of ≤ 2 cm in diameter and a consolidation to tumor ratio (CTR) of ≤ 0.25 have good postoperative prognoses, but their management remains controversial.
Research question: Does upfront surgical intervention lead to higher survival than watchful waiting in patients with SSNs with diameter of ≤ 2 cm and CTR of ≤ 0.25?
Study design and methods: Patients with SSNs who underwent thin-section CT scan examination between February 2005 and December 2018 were followed up retrospectively until December 2023 or until all-cause death or lung cancer recurrence or metastases. Patients were divided into observation and surgery groups and categorized further by the diameter and CTR of these SSNs. Event-free survival (EFS) was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier analysis, multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards modeling, propensity score matching, and a noninferiority trial.
Results: Data from 1,676 patients were included (surgery group, n = 1,122 [66.9%]; observation group, n = 554 [33.1%]), with a median EFS of 70.2 months (range, 0.3-213.6 months). Comparing the observation group with the surgery group, the 5-year EFS rates in category A (diameter ≤ 2 cm and CTR ≤ 0.25), category A1 (diameter ≤ 1 cm and CTR ≤ 0.25), category A2 (1 cm < diameter ≤ 2 cm and CTR ≤ 0.25), and the combined category (diameter ≤ 3 cm and CTR ≤ 0.5) were 100% vs 99.0%, 100% vs 99.6%, 100% vs 98.6%, and 100% vs 97.4%, respectively. In the above categories of SSNs, the EFS of the observation group was noninferior to that of the surgery group (P < .001 for noninferiority), and the results remained consistent after propensity score matching. Category A2 achieved the maximum hazard ratio of 0.0668, with corresponding 5-year EFS rates for the observation and surgery groups being 100% vs 93.3%, respectively.
Interpretation: In patients with SSNs of ≤ 2 cm in diameter and CTR of ≤ 0.25, watchful waiting could be more appropriate than upfront surgical intervention.
期刊介绍:
At CHEST, our mission is to revolutionize patient care through the collaboration of multidisciplinary clinicians in the fields of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. We achieve this by publishing cutting-edge clinical research that addresses current challenges and brings forth future advancements. To enhance understanding in a rapidly evolving field, CHEST also features review articles, commentaries, and facilitates discussions on emerging controversies. We place great emphasis on scientific rigor, employing a rigorous peer review process, and ensuring all accepted content is published online within two weeks.