Clinical characteristics of patients with bronchioloalveolar carcinoma: a retrospective study of 44 cases.
BACKGROUND
Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC) is considered a subtype of adenocarcinoma of the lung. Recently BAC has been variously termed adenocarcinoma in situ, minimally invasive adenocarcinoma, lepidic predominant invasive adenocarcinoma, and invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma. The aim of the study was to analyze and detect prognostic factors of patients with BAC over a 7-year period.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
This retrospective single-center study included 44 patients with BAC. The impact on survival of fifteen variables (gender, age, smoking status, cough, dyspnea, hemoptysis, fever, chest pain, sputum, metastasis number, Karnofsky performance status, pT, pN, TNM stage, cytotoxic chemoterapy) were assessed.


RESULTS
Median age was 55 years (38-83). Most patients were male (63.6%) and stage IV (59.1%). Twenty-one patients (47.7%) received cytotoxic chemotherapy (platinum-based regimens) for metastatic disease. Objective response rate was 33.3% (4 partial, 3 complete responses). Stable disease was observed in nine in patients (42.8%). Disease progression was noted in 5 (23.8%). The median OS for all patients was 12 months (95%CI, 2.08-22.9 months). Independent predictors for overall survival were: Karnofsky performance status (HR:3.30, p 0.009), pN (HR:3.81, p 0.018), TNM stage (HR:6.49, p 0.012) and hemoptysis (HR:2.31, p 0.046).


CONCLUSIONS
Karnofsky performance status, pN, TNM stage and hemoptysis appear to have significant impact on predicting patient survival in cases of BAC.