Pulmonary ground-glass opacity: computed tomography features, histopathology and molecular pathology

doi:10.21037/tlcr.2017.01.02

Review

. 2017 Feb;6(1):68-75.

doi: 10.21037/tlcr.2017.01.02.

Pulmonary ground-glass opacity: computed tomography features, histopathology and molecular pathology

Affiliations

¹ Department of Respiratory Medicine, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing 210002, China.
² Department of Radiology, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
³ The Research Institute of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing 210002, China.
⁴ The Research Institute of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing 210002, China;; Translational Lung Research Centre Heidelberg (TLRC), German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Heidelberg, Germany.
⁵ Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶ Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Saitama International Medical Center, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan;; Department of Respiratory Medicine, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Yachiyo Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan.
⁷ Università degli studi di Milano, Postgraduation School in Radiodiagnostics, Milan, Italy.

PMID: 28331826
PMCID: PMC5344841
DOI: 10.21037/tlcr.2017.01.02

Review

Pulmonary ground-glass opacity: computed tomography features, histopathology and molecular pathology

Jian-Wei Gao et al. Transl Lung Cancer Res. 2017 Feb.

. 2017 Feb;6(1):68-75.

doi: 10.21037/tlcr.2017.01.02.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Respiratory Medicine, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing 210002, China.
² Department of Radiology, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
³ The Research Institute of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing 210002, China.
⁴ The Research Institute of General Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing 210002, China;; Translational Lung Research Centre Heidelberg (TLRC), German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Heidelberg, Germany.
⁵ Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶ Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Saitama International Medical Center, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan;; Department of Respiratory Medicine, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Yachiyo Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan.
⁷ Università degli studi di Milano, Postgraduation School in Radiodiagnostics, Milan, Italy.

PMID: 28331826
PMCID: PMC5344841
DOI: 10.21037/tlcr.2017.01.02

Abstract

The incidence of pulmonary ground-glass opacity (GGO) lesions is increasing as a result of the widespread use of multislice spiral computed tomography (CT) and the low-dose CT screening for lung cancer detection. Besides benign lesions, GGOs can be a specific type of lung adenocarcinomas or their preinvasive lesions. Evaluation of pulmonary GGO and investigation of the correlation between CT imaging features and lung adenocarcinoma subtypes or driver genes can be helpful in confirming the diagnosis and in guiding the clinical management. Our review focuses on the pathologic characteristics of GGO detected at CT, involving histopathology and molecular pathology.

Keywords: Ground-glass opacity (GGO); Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS); anaplastic lymphoma kinase gene (ALK); computed tomography (CT); driver genes; epidermal growth factor receptor gene (EGFR); pathology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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References

1. Austin JH, Müller NL, Friedman PJ, et al. Glossary of terms for CT of the lungs: recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee of the Fleischner Society. Radiology 1996;200:327-31. 10.1148/radiology.200.2.8685321 - DOI - PubMed
1. Kalra MK, Maher MM, Rizzo S, et al. Radiation exposure from chest CT: issues and strategies. J Korean Med Sci 2004;19:159-66. 10.3346/jkms.2004.19.2.159 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Park CM, Goo JM, Lee HJ, et al. Nodular ground-glass opacity at thin-section CT: histologic correlation and evaluation of change at follow-up. Radiographics 2007;27:391-408. 10.1148/rg.272065061 - DOI - PubMed
1. Weichert W, Warth A. Early lung cancer with lepidic pattern: adenocarcinoma in situ, minimally invasive adenocarcinoma, and lepidic predominant adenocarcinoma. Curr Opin Pulm Med 2014;20:309-16. 10.1097/MCP.0000000000000065 - DOI - PubMed
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[1] Austin JH, Müller NL, Friedman PJ, et al. Glossary of terms for CT of the lungs: recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee of the Fleischner Society. Radiology 1996;200:327-31. 10.1148/radiology.200.2.8685321 - DOI - PubMed

[2] Austin JH, Müller NL, Friedman PJ, et al. Glossary of terms for CT of the lungs: recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee of the Fleischner Society. Radiology 1996;200:327-31. 10.1148/radiology.200.2.8685321 - DOI - PubMed

[3] Kalra MK, Maher MM, Rizzo S, et al. Radiation exposure from chest CT: issues and strategies. J Korean Med Sci 2004;19:159-66. 10.3346/jkms.2004.19.2.159 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[4] Kalra MK, Maher MM, Rizzo S, et al. Radiation exposure from chest CT: issues and strategies. J Korean Med Sci 2004;19:159-66. 10.3346/jkms.2004.19.2.159 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[5] Park CM, Goo JM, Lee HJ, et al. Nodular ground-glass opacity at thin-section CT: histologic correlation and evaluation of change at follow-up. Radiographics 2007;27:391-408. 10.1148/rg.272065061 - DOI - PubMed

[6] Park CM, Goo JM, Lee HJ, et al. Nodular ground-glass opacity at thin-section CT: histologic correlation and evaluation of change at follow-up. Radiographics 2007;27:391-408. 10.1148/rg.272065061 - DOI - PubMed

[7] Weichert W, Warth A. Early lung cancer with lepidic pattern: adenocarcinoma in situ, minimally invasive adenocarcinoma, and lepidic predominant adenocarcinoma. Curr Opin Pulm Med 2014;20:309-16. 10.1097/MCP.0000000000000065 - DOI - PubMed

[8] Weichert W, Warth A. Early lung cancer with lepidic pattern: adenocarcinoma in situ, minimally invasive adenocarcinoma, and lepidic predominant adenocarcinoma. Curr Opin Pulm Med 2014;20:309-16. 10.1097/MCP.0000000000000065 - DOI - PubMed

[9] Hashizume T, Yamada K, Okamoto N, et al. Prognostic significance of thin-section CT scan findings in small-sized lung adenocarcinoma. Chest 2008;133:441-7. 10.1378/chest.07-1533 - DOI - PubMed

[10] Hashizume T, Yamada K, Okamoto N, et al. Prognostic significance of thin-section CT scan findings in small-sized lung adenocarcinoma. Chest 2008;133:441-7. 10.1378/chest.07-1533 - DOI - PubMed

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Pulmonary ground-glass opacity: computed tomography features, histopathology and molecular pathology

Affiliations

Pulmonary ground-glass opacity: computed tomography features, histopathology and molecular pathology

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