Lymphatic Vessel Invasion and Lymph Node Metastasis in Patients with Clinical Stage I Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Background The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the presence of lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI) in primary tumors and lymph node (LN) metastasis in clinical stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Materials and Methods A total of 76 patients who underwent complete resection for clinical stage I adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma were retrospectively examined. Results Tumors consisted of 51 cases of adenocarcinoma and 25 cases of squamous cell carcinoma as determined by histology. LN metastasis was detected in 24.4% (19/76) of patients. Factors associated with LN metastasis on univariate analysis included LVI (p < 0.001) and increased tumor dimensions (p < 0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that the presence of LVI (p < 0.001) was the only predictor of LN metastasis. Conclusion LVI is significantly associated with LN metastasis in patients with clinical stage I NSCLC. These findings may be helpful in determining the most appropriate operative strategy for patients if preoperative detection of LVI becomes feasible.