Computer-Aided Nodule Assessment and Risk Yield, a software tool developed at the Mayo Clinic, can automatically quantitate adenocarcinoma pulmonary nodule characteristics from non-invasive high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) images and stratify non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients into risk groups that have notably different disease-free survival outcomes, according to a news release from the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). The results of the study are published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official journal of the IASLC.

HRCT images from 264 clinical stage I pulmonary nodules of the lung adenocarcinoma spectrum were analyzed by researchers with the CANARY system, and the software tool used an unsupervised clustering algorithm to classify patients into categories of similar nodule characteristics.

The results of the analysis reveal that the adenocarcinomas naturally segregated into 3 groups based on HRCT characteristics, with the three identified groups corresponding to good, intermediate, and postoperative outcomes with 5-year disease free survival rates, according to the IASLC news release. The disease-free survival rates were 100%, 73%, and 51%, respectively.

The authors of the study write, “Our preliminary assessment suggests CANARY represents a robust risk stratification tool that can be utilized with a wide variety of HRCT techniques and equipment for retrospective or prospective evaluation of lung nodules in a real-world setting.”

Sushravya Raghunath, PhD, lead author of the study, suggests, “HRCT-based CANARY classification could ultimately guide the individualized treatment of HRCT-detected lesions with nodules noninvasively categorized as “good” managed with less aggressive surgical approaches, noninvasive or minimally invasive therapy or watchful waiting, whereas nodules that have characteristics corresponding to the “poor” group would be managed with current standard of care, such as lobectomy, and perhaps additional adjuvant therapy.”

Source: International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer