Natural history of adenocarcinoma of the lung. A computed tomography-pathologic correlative study

To determine the natural history of adenocarcinoma of the lung, we reviewed computed tomography (CT) scans for nine patients with histologically proven peripheral adenocarcinoma of the lung. The tumors on these CT images were correlated with the six histologic classifications (types A-F) reported by Noguchi et al. The findings for all adenocarcinomas on the CT images were classified into two patterns: the solid-density type (n=5) or the air-containing type (n=4). Among those the air-containing category, types A and B were revealed in one and three cases, respectively. Those in the solid-density category were all type C, except for two cases which were type D. Three of the tumors of the solid-density type appearing in the CT images, which tended to fall mainly into type C, exhibited a progression from the air-containing type to the solid-density type. We speculate that this progression observed in the CT images suggests that pulmonary small adenocarcinoma follows a pattern of development from the types A and B to the invasive type C. (author)