Assessment of Relationship Between CT Features and Serum Tumor Marker Index in Early-stage Lung Adenocarcinoma

Rationale and Objectives The study aimed to assess the relationship between tumor marker index (TMI) and high-resolution computed tomography features in early-stage lung adenocarcinoma. Materials and Methods Seventy-four stage IA lung adenocarcinomas confirmed pathologically were retrospectively evaluated. Lung nodules were divided into two types: solid nodule (SN) and subsolid nodule (SSN). The maximum diameters on mediastinal window in axial imaging (D m ) and tumor shadow disappearance rate (TDR) were measured. Meanwhile, other computed tomography features of lung nodules were also recorded. TMI represents the geometric mean of normalized CEA and CYFRA 21-1 values, and the discriminatory value of TMI in this study was set at 1.0. The evaluation of discriminatory values for D m and the TMI between SNs and SSNs was done with Mann-Whitney U -test. The relationship between TDR and TMI in SSNs was evaluated by Pearson correlation analysis. Results Of 74 cases, 40 cases (54.05%) showed SNs and 34 cases (45.95%) showed SSNs. D m and TMI were higher in SNs than in SSNs (z = −4.782, P P  = 0.008). TDR demonstrated negative relationship with TMI in SSNs (r = −0.448, P  = 0.008). Spiculation (odds ratio [OR] = 14.685; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.739–78.729; P  = 0.002), nodule type (OR = 6.215; 95% CI: 1.531–25.228; P  = 0.011), and gender (OR = 0.227; 95% CI: 0.062–0.833; P  = 0.025) were independent factors associated with TMI. Conclusions Early-stage lung adenocarcinoma with lower TDR coexisting with spiculation was associated with higher TMI, especially in patients with solid nodule, which tended to have poor prognosis.