The effect of tumor size and tumor cell DNA content on the survival of patients with stage I adenocarcinoma of the lung.

Tumor size at resection and flow cytometric (FCM) DNA distribution of 93 pathologically confirmed AJC Stage I adenocarcinomas of lung were compared with survival. All lung cancers had been treated by lobectomy and mediastinal lymph node dissection at this Institution, and the pathology of all cases was reviewed. Median tumor size was 2.5 cm. FCM DNA assays were carried out on the formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue. Seventy-nine (85%) of the tumors were aneuploid and 14 were diploid. There was no significant difference in survival between patients with diploid and aneuploid tumors. The DNA index, proliferation fraction, and fraction of aneuploid cells also had no effect on survival. However, patients with tumors smaller than 3 cm in diameter had a significantly better prognosis than those with larger tumors. Thus, in Stage I adenocarcinoma of lung, tumor size but not cellular DNA content distinguishes subgroups with favorable versus unfavorable prognosis.