Tumor Volume Is Better Than Diameter for Predicting the Prognosis of Patients with Early-Stage Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Background This study aimed to investigate whether tumor volume (TV) is better than diameter for predicting the prognosis of patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after complete resection. Methods This study retrospectively reviewed the clinicopathologic characteristics of 274 patients with early-stage NSCLC who had received pretreatment computed tomography (CT) scans and complete resection. TV was semi-automatically measured from CT scans using an imaging software program. The optimal cutoff of TV was determined by X-tile software. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed by the Kaplan–Meier method. The prognostic significance of TV and other variables was assessed by Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. Results Using 3.046 cm 3 and 8.078 cm 3 as optimal cutoff values of TV, the patients were separated into three groups. A larger TV was significantly associated with poor DFS and OS in the multivariable analysis. Kaplan–Meier curves of DFS and OS showed significant differences on the basis of TV among patients with stage 1a disease, greatest tumor diameter (GTD) of 2 cm or smaller, and GTD of 2–3 cm, respectively. Using two TV cutoff points, three categories of TV were created. In 54 cases (19.7%), patients migrated from the GTD categories of 2 cm or smaller, 2–3 cm, and larger than 3 cm into the TV categories of 3.046 cm 3 or smaller, 3.046–8.078 cm 3 , and larger than 8.078 cm 3 . Conclusion TV is an independent prognostic factor of DFS and OS for early-stage NSCLC. The findings show that TV is better than GTD for predicting the prognosis of patients with early-stage NSCLC.