Intrapulmonary metastasis in resected pathologic stage IIIB non-small cell lung cancer: Possible contribution of aerogenous metastasis to the favorable outcome
July 31st, 2007
Non-small cell lung cancer with pulmonary metastasis in the primary lobe (PM+) is classified as pathologic stage IIIB. Although stage IIIB PM+ indicates a poor prognosis, this stage includes various subgroups with heterogeneous clinical outcomes. The objective of this study was to extract a subgroup of patients with stage IIIB PM+ non-small cell lung cancer with a better prognosis and assess their biological characteristics and metastatic mechanisms.