Prognostic value of ground glass opacity on computed tomography in pathological stage I pulmonary adenocarcinoma: A meta-analysis

摘要

BACKGROUND The clinical role of ground glass opacity(GGO)on computed tomography(CT)in stage I pulmonary adenocarcinoma patients currently remains unclear.AIM To explore the prognostic value of GGO on CT in lung adenocarcinoma patients who were pathologically diagnosed with tumor-node-metastasis stage I.METHODS A comprehensive and systematic search was conducted through the PubMed,EMBASE and Web of Science databases up to April 3,2021.The hazard ratio(HR)and corresponding 95%confidence interval(CI)were combined to assess the association between the presence of GGO and prognosis,representing overall survival and disease-free survival.Subgroup analysis based on the ratio of GGO was also conducted.STATA 12.0 software was used for statistical analysis.RESULTS A total of 12 studies involving 4467 patients were included.The pooled results indicated that the GGO predicted favorable overall survival(HR=0.44,95%CI:0.34-0.59,P<0.001)and disease-free survival(HR=0.35,95%CI:0.18-0.70,P=0.003).Subgroup analysis based on the ratio of GGO further demonstrated that the proportion of GGO was a good prognostic indicator in pathological stage I pulmonary adenocarcinoma patients,and patients with a higher ratio of GGO showed better prognosis than patients with a lower GGO ratio did.CONCLUSION This meta-analysis manifested that the presence of GGO on CT predicted favorable prognosis in tumor-node-metastasis stage I lung adenocarcinoma.Patients with a higher GGO ratio were more likely to have a better prognosis than patients with a lower GGO ratio.