Surgical prognosis of lung invasive mucinous and non-mucinous adenocarcinoma: Propensity score matched analysis

Abstract OBJECTIVES Invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma exhibits distinct prognostic outcomes compared to nonmucinous adenocarcinoma. This study investigated and compared the clinical outcomes and prognostic factors of invasive mucinous and nonmucinous adenocarcinoma patients. METHODS This retrospective study included patients who underwent curative surgery for adenocarcinoma between 2011 and 2021. Patient characteristics were balanced using propensity score matching. Cumulative incidence was analysed to evaluate cancer recurrence incidence, and the Kaplan–Meier method was used to calculate overall survival for each group. RESULTS A total of 6,101 patients were included. After matching, the nonmucinous group and mucinous groups comprised 798 and 408 patients, respectively. The patients in the mucinous group had a lower recurrence incidence than those in the nonmucinous group (p = 0.014). The recurrence incidence in the mucinous group was between those of grades 1 (p = 0.011) and 2 (p = 0.012) and the overall survival rates were comparable to those of grades 2 (p = 0.6) and 3 (p = 0.2). Multivariable analysis revealed that the maximal standardised uptake value (HR: 1.13, p = 0.11) and progressed pathological stages (pStage II, HR: 3.9, p = 0.028; pStage III, HR: 8.33, p = 0.038) served as adverse prognostic factors for the mucinous group. CONCLUSIONS Patients with mucinous adenocarcinoma demonstrated lower recurrence incidence and similar overall survival rates compared to those with nonmucinous adenocarcinoma. The recurrence incidence of mucinous adenocarcinoma was between those of International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer grades 1 and 2, with the overall survival rates comparable to those of grades 2 and 3.