Meta-Analysis
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Nov 26, 2021; 9(33): 10222-10232
Published online Nov 26, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i33.10222
Prognostic value of ground glass opacity on computed tomography in pathological stage I pulmonary adenocarcinoma: A meta-analysis
Xue-Lin Pan, Zi-Ling Liao, Hui Yao, Wei-Jie Yan, De-Ying Wen, Yan Wang, Zhen-Lin Li
Xue-Lin Pan, Zi-Ling Liao, Hui Yao, Wei-Jie Yan, De-Ying Wen, Zhen-Lin Li, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Yan Wang, Department of Thoracic Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Author contributions: Li ZL and Wang Y designed the research; Pan XL, Liao ZL and Yao H conducted the literature search and collected and retrieved the data; Yan WJ, Wen DY and Wang Y analyzed the data; Pan XL wrote and revised the manuscript; All authors approved the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: This meta-analysis was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA 2020) checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Zhen-Lin Li, MD, Professor, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37 Guoxuexiang, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. 17380096151@163.com
Received: July 7, 2021
Peer-review started: July 7, 2021
First decision: August 18, 2021
Revised: August 18, 2021
Accepted: September 10, 2021
Article in press: September 10, 2021
Published online: November 26, 2021
Abstract
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.

Keywords: Ground glass opacity, Stage I, Lung adenocarcinoma, Prognosis, Meta-analysis

Core Tip: Our manuscript demonstrated that the ,ground glass opacity (GGO) predicted favorable overall survival (P < 0.001) and disease-free survival (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. This meta-analysis manifested that the presence of GGO on computed tomography 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.