Clinical significance of preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen level for clinical stage I non-small cell lung cancer: can preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen level predict pathological stage?

The purpose of the present study was to retrospectively analyze the clinicopathological characteristics and clarify whether or not the preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level could be used as a decision-making factor as an adjunct to the TNM staging system in patients with clinical stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Between 1993 and 2006, 815 patients who had clinical stage I NSCLC were analyzed retrospectively. The CEA level was defined as being either normal (CEA30 ng/ml) sub-groups.

Clinical significance of pleural lavage cytology for non-small cell lung cancer: is surgical resection valid for patients with positive pleural lavage cytology?

The purpose of the present study was to retrospectively analyze the clinicopathological characteristics and clarify the validity of surgical resection for patients with positive pleural lavage cytology (PLC). Between 1993 and 2006, 563 patients who underwent complete surgical resection for primary non-small cell lung cancer and who were examined with regard to PLC were retrospectively analyzed. Forty-two patients (7.