Lymphadenectomy is unnecessary for pure ground-glass opacity pulmonary nodules

Background: Lobectomy plus lymph node dissection is the standard treatment of early-stage lung cancer, but the low lymph node metastasis rate with ground-glass opacity (GGO) makes surgeons not perform lymphadenectomy. This study aimed to re-evaluate the lymph node metastasis rate of GGO to help make a clinical judgment. Methods: We performed this retrospective study to enroll patients who received lung cancer surgery from 2011 to 2016. Patient characteristics collected included tumor size, solid part size and lymph node metastasis rate. These patients were categorized into pure GGO and part solid GGO groups to undergo analysis. Results: Lymph node metastasis rates were 0%, 3.8% and 6.9% in order of the pure GGO group, the GGO predominant group and the solid predominant group. In the lobectomy patients, the solid predominant group still showed to have the highest lymph node metastasis rate and recurrence rate (8.3% and 10.1%). Conclusion: It is unnecessary to perform lymphadenectomy for patients with pure GGO in view of the 0% lymph node metastasis rate. The higher lymph node metastasis rate in the patients with the solid predominant group, 6.9%, suggested that surgeons should choose a rational lymphadenectomy method according to their GGO property and clinical judgment.