Invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma of the lung: clinicopathological features, ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT findings, and survival outcomes

Invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma (IMA) is a rare subtype of lung adenocarcinoma. This study aimed to retrospectively evaluate the clinicopathological features, ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT findings, and prognosis of IMA of the lung, as well as to investigate the associations among these variables, to improve the management of such patients.

Clinicopathological and ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT characteristics of 72 patients with pathologically confirmed IMA of the lung were retrospectively collected and investigated, and their predictive efficacy on progression-free survival (PFS) was evaluated.

The median age of the enrolled 72 patients was 61 years (range, 26–79 years), and the male-to-female ratio was 1:1.25. According to the radiological morphology of IMA, solidary nodule/mass type (n = 59, 81.9%) was the most common, followed by GGO type (n = 8, 11.1%) and pneumonia type (n = 5, 6.9%). Lobulated or spiculated margin and pleural traction were the most common radiological signs. The median SUVmax of IMA lesions was 3.0, ranging from 0.5 to 23.1. Higher SUVmax was observed in IMA with non-GGO type, clinical symptom, advanced stage, lobulated margin, pleural traction or spread through air spaces (STAS) (P < 0.05). Moreover, higher SUVmax was related to larger tumor size in non-pneumonia-type IMA (r = 0.708, P < 0.001). The median PFS was 21.3 months, and the 12-, 24- and 36-month PFS rates were 89.8%, 83.3% and 75.5%, respectively. A poorer PFS was significantly associated with SUVmax ≥ 3, advanced stage and STAS.

¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT combined with clinicopathological characteristics can aid the diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of lung IMA, which could provide guidance for the appropriate management of such patients.