The predominant expression of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α (HNF4α) in thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF-1)-negative pulmonary adenocarcinoma.

AIMS: To investigate TTF-1-negative pulmonary adenocarcinoma, focusing upon mucin production and the expression of hepatocyte nuclear factor-4α (HNF4α). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred and sixty-two cases of pulmonary adenocarcinoma were examined histologically and immunohistochemically; TTF-1 was expressed in 222 cases (84.7%), and 40 cases (15.3%) were negative. Among TTF-1-negative cases there were 31 mucinous-type tumours, and HNF4α, MUC5AC and MUC2 were expressed in 34 cases (85%), 29 cases (72.5%) and four cases (10%), respectively. In contrast, their expression was rare in TTF-1-positive tumours. A statistically inverse correlation was confirmed between the expression of TTF-1 and that of HNF4α and MUC5AC. CONCLUSION: Most TTF-1-negative pulmonary adenocarcinomas are mucinous lesions with the predominant expression of HNF4α and MUC5AC.

A combination of preoperative CT findings and postoperative serum CEA levels improves recurrence prediction for stage I lung adenocarcinoma.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the prognostic value of combined evaluation of preoperative CT findings and pre/postoperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels for pathological stage I lung adenocarcinoma. METHODS: This retrospective study included 250 consecutive patients who underwent complete resection for ≤ 3-cm pathological stage I (T1-2aN0M0) adenocarcinomas (132 men, 118 women; mean age, 67.8 years). Radiologists evaluated following CT findings: maximum tumor diameter, percentage of solid component (%solid), air bronchogram, spiculation, adjacency of bullae or interstitial pneumonia (IP) around the tumor, notch, and pleural indent. These CT findings, pre/postoperative CEA levels, age, gender, and Brinkman index were assessed by Cox proportional hazards model to determine the best prognostic model. Prognostic accuracy was examined using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). RESULTS: Median follow-up period was 73.2 months. In multivariate analysis, high %solid, adjacency of bullae or IP around the tumor, and high postoperative CEA levels comprised the best combination for predicting recurrence (P<0.05). A combination of these three findings had a greater accuracy in predicting 5-year disease-free survival than did %solid alone (AUC=0.853 versus 0.792; P=0.023), with a sensitivity of 85.7% and a specificity of 74.3% at the optimal threshold. The best cut-off values of %solid and postoperative CEA levels for predicting high-risk patients were ≥ 48% and ≥ 3.7 ng/mL, respectively. CONCLUSION: Compared to %solid alone, combined evaluation of %solid, adjacency of bullae or IP change around the tumor, and postoperative CEA levels improves recurrence prediction for stage I lung adenocarcinoma.