Sunday, November 30 | 9:20 a.m.-9:30 a.m. | S1-SSCH01-3 | Room E451A
In this Sunday morning session, researchers will share results from a study that found that lower bone density and higher airway ratio on pretreatment CT scans are related to poorer survival in never-smoker lung cancer patients.
“Despite surgical resection being the primary treatment for early-stage disease, prognostic tools tailored to this population remain limited,” presenter Jing Wang, MD, of the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, and colleagues noted. “[Our study investigated] the association between CT-derived lung, airway, and body composition features and overall survival following surgical resection in never-smokers.”
The team’s study included 112 never-smoker lung cancer patients who underwent surgery. In the total patient cohort, median overall survival was 9.7 years, and 29 individuals died during the follow-up period. Wang’s group evaluated data from pretreatment CT exams to quantify volumes of lung, emphysema, airway, and five body tissue types, and evaluated body tissue densities across image slices.
The researchers’ key finding was that lower bone density and higher airway ratio were significant predictors of poorer postsurgical survival in never-smoker lung cancer patients (hazard ratio, 0.64 and 1.62, respectively).
“Incorporating these imaging biomarkers into preoperative assessment may aid in risk stratification and personalized care, potentially improving outcomes in this vulnerable population,” the group concluded.