TABLE 1 ] .
Characteristics of Patients and Lung Nodules
| Characteristics | All Patients | Cancer | Benign | P Value |
| Patients, No. | 377 | 94 | 283 | … |
| Age, y | 65 (40-88) | 67 (42-83) | 64 (40-88) | .0186 |
| Sex | .9308 | |||
| Male | 171 (45) | 43 (46) | 128 (45) | |
| Female | 206 (55) | 51 (54) | 155 (55) | |
| Smoking history | ||||
| Status | < .0001 | |||
| Never | 102 (27) | 8 (9) | 94 (33) | |
| Former | 169 (45) | 50 (53) | 119 (42) | |
| Current | 106 (28) | 36 (38) | 70 (25) | |
| Pack-y, mean (range) | 32 (0-165) | 45 (0-125) | 27 (0-165) | < .0001 |
| Known family history of lung cancer | 46 (12) | 19 (20) | 27 (10) | .0062 |
| Geographic region | .1087 | |||
| Midwest | 118 (31) | 25 (27) | 93 (33) | |
| Northeast | 88 (23) | 17 (18) | 71 (25) | |
| South | 88 (23) | 24 (26) | 64 (23) | |
| West | 83 (22) | 28 (30) | 55 (19) | |
| Lung nodules | ||||
| Size, mm | 13 (8-20) | 15 (8-20) | 12 (8-20) | < .0001 |
| Location | .0262 | |||
| Left lower lobe | 76 (20) | 14 (15) | 62 (22) | |
| Left upper lobe | 91 (24) | 29 (31) | 62 (22) | |
| Right lower lobe | 77 (20) | 16 (17) | 61 (22) | |
| Right middle lobe | 45 (12) | 6 (6) | 39 (14) | |
| Right upper lobe | 88 (23) | 29 (31) | 59 (21) | |
| Spiculated | 118 (31) | 45 (48) | 73 (26) | < .0001 |
| Diagnosis | ||||
| Clinical benign | 175 (46) | … | 175 (62) | … |
| Histopathology | ||||
| Benign diagnosis | … | |||
| No malignancy | 21 (6) | … | 21 (7) | |
| Infection/inflammation | 22 (6) | … | 22 (8) | |
| Granuloma | 7 (2) | … | 7 (2) | |
| Scar | 1 (0) | … | 1 (0) | |
| Nondiagnostic biopsy/radiographically stable or resolved at 2 y | 57 (15) | … | 57 (20) | |
| Cancer diagnosis | … | |||
| NSCLC (type not specified) | 57 (15) | 57 (61) | … | |
| NSCLC (bronchial alveolar carcinoma) | 2 (1) | 2 (2) | … | |
| Adenocarcinoma | 14 (4) | 14 (15) | … | |
| Squamous cell | 10 (3) | 10 (11) | … | |
| Small cell | 4 (1) | 4 (4) | … | |
| Othera | 7 (2) | 7 (7) | … | |
| Procedure use | ||||
| Surgery | 77 (20) | 50 (53) | 27 (10) | < .0001 |
| Biopsy | 144 (38) | 55 (59) | 89 (32) | < .0001 |
| Surgery or biopsy | 202 (54) | 94 (100) | 108 (38) | < .0001 |
| PET scan | 141 (37) | 56 (60) | 85 (30) | < .0001 |
| CT scan/radiograph only | 133 (35) | 0 (0) | 133 (47) | < .0001 |
| Procedure use category | ||||
| Most invasive = surgery | 77 (20) | 50 (53) | 27 (10) | < .0001 |
| Most invasive = biopsy | 125 (33) | 44 (47) | 81 (29) | .0012 |
| Surveillance | 175 (46) | 0 (0) | 175 (62) | < .0001 |
Data are given as No. (%) or mean (range) unless otherwise indicated. NSCLC = non-small cell lung cancer.
a
Other cancer diagnoses include spindle cell, mesothelioma, and metastatic cancer.