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Three-dimensional analysis reveals a high incidence of lung adenocarcinoma in the upper region

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Abstract

Purpose

The lung is a unique organ with a ventilation-perfusion mismatch, which can cause inhomogeneous incidence rates of lung cancer depending on the location in the lung. We aimed to evaluate the incidence of lung adenocarcinoma in each lobe by analyzing the incidence per unit volume, to evaluate the incidence without being affected by differences in the size of each lobe or in the size of the lungs between individuals.

Methods

The number of adenocarcinomas in each lobe was counted. Lung volumes were measured using a three-dimensional computer workstation. The tumor incidence per unit volume was analyzed based on the number of tumors in each lobe.

Results

The number of tumors per unit volume was 0.467 in the right upper lobe (RUL), 0.182 in the right middle lobe, 0.209 in the right lower lobe, 0.306 in the left upper segment (LUS), 0.083 in the left lingular segment, and 0.169 in the left lower lobe. The tumor incidence rate of RUL + LUS was 2.269 times that of the other lobes, a value that was significantly higher when using the bootstrap method (p < 0.001).

Conclusions

The incidence of adenocarcinoma per unit volume in both upper lobes was higher than that in other lobes.

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Abbreviations

PM:

Particulate matter

NSCLC:

Non-small cell lung cancer

SEER:

Surveillance, epidemiology, and end results

3D:

Three-dimensional

CT:

Computed tomography

RUL:

Right upper lobe

RML:

Right middle lobe

RLL:

Right lower lobe

LUS:

Left upper segment

LLS:

Left lingular segment

LLL:

Left lower lobe

SD:

Standard deviation

GGO:

Ground-glass opacity

COPD:

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Cosmin Florescu (Medical English Communications Center, University of Tsukuba) for the excellent English proofreading.

Funding

This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (no. 21K08879) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and by Translational Research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Thoracic Surgery, University of Tsukuba, 1‑1‑1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305‑8575, Japan

    Tomoyuki Kawamura, Yasuharu Sekine, Kazuto Sugai, Takahiro Yanagihara, Yusuke Saeki, Shinsuke Kitazawa, Naohiro Kobayashi, Yukinobu Goto, Hideo Ichimura & Yukio Sato

  2. Department of Biostatistics, Tsukuba Clinical Research and Development Organization, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8575, Japan

    Tomohiro Ohigashi

  3. Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8575, Japan

    Kazushi Maruo

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  1. Tomoyuki Kawamura
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Correspondence to Yukio Sato.

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Kawamura, T., Sekine, Y., Sugai, K. et al. Three-dimensional analysis reveals a high incidence of lung adenocarcinoma in the upper region. Surg Today (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-023-02776-9

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