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| |  Novel Growth Pattern Classification Predictive of Outcome in NSCLC CORONADO, Calif -- January 13, 2010 -- Classifying non-small cell lung tumours by growth patterns had a strong predictive value for measures of survival, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research/International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer. Researchers classified tumours into 3 growth patterns: destructive, alveolar, and papillary. In destructive patterns, the tumour makes its own microenvironment for further growth. In the alveolar pattern, the tumour uses the microenvironment of the lung to grow, and in the papillary pattern the normal lung tissue is preserved in the presence of a new microenvironment. Peyman Sardari Nia, MD, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium, and colleagues tested this classification to see if they had prognostic value in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. “The current management, treatment, and prognosis of lung cancer is treatment based on tumour-node-metastasis staging,” said Dr. Sardari Nia. “Unfortunately, tumour node metastasis does not account for survival differences in the same stage and does not provide information about the biology of the tumour.” For the study, Dr. Sardari Nia and colleagues enrolled 432 patients who had a complete resection for primary non-small cell lung cancer. The researchers followed the patients for about 50 months. According to the classifications outlined, 71.1% had a destructive growth pattern, 13.9% had a papillary growth pattern, and 15% had an alveolar growth pattern. These growth patterns were independent predictors for overall survival, disease-specific survival and disease-free survival. Patients with an alveolar growth pattern had a 52% greater chance of a poor prognosis for overall survival and a nearly 2-fold increased risk for poorer disease-specific survival and for disease-free survival. “This biological classification provides explanations for survival differences at the same disease stage,” said Dr. Sardari Nia. “Additionally, these growth patterns represent distinct biologic subtypes implying that different growth patterns might respond differently to the pallet of treatment modalities, paving the way for individualisation of the patient’s treatment.”
SOURCE: American Association for Cancer Research
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