REVIEW article
Oncol. Rev.
Sec. Oncology Reviews: Reviews
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/or.2025.1615365
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing Diagnostic Excellence in Early Lung Cancer DetectionView all 4 articles
Lung cancer associated with cystic airspaces: current progress and future perspectives
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China, Shanghai, China
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Lung cancer associated with cystic airspaces (LCCAs) is a distinct subtype of lung 14 cancer featured by its unique radiological characteristics. It is increasing prevalent but 15 often misdiagnosed. The constantly emerging radiological classification systems help 16 characterizing LCCAs and guiding certain treatment. Compared to non-LCCAs, 17 LCCAs are more likely to be associated with invasive nature. The natural progression 18 of LCCAs involves the thickening of cyst walls and the emergence of solid nodules, 19 which are indicative of tumor progression. Despite their aggressive features, the 20 overall prognosis of LCCAs was similar to non-cystic lung cancer. This review aims to 21 systematically address the current understanding of LCCAs, including epidemiology, 22 radiologic classification, pathology, molecular characteristics, disease progression, 23 and survival prognosis, highlighting the need for further research to standardize the 24 diagnosis and treatment of LCCAs and to better understand their mechanisms of 25 development.
Keywords: lung cancer, Lung cancer associated with cystic airspaces, Clinicopathological features, Image characteristics, Pathogenesis, prognosis
Received: 21 Apr 2025; Accepted: 04 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang and Dai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jie Dai, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China, Shanghai, China
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