Clinical and pathologic staging accuracy in patients with synchronous multiple primary lung cancers

Background: The incidence of synchronous multiple primary lung cancer (SMPLC) is increasing, occurring in up to 20% of lung cancer patients. Accurately identifying SMPLC can be challenging, and failure to recognize SMPLC results in poor outcomes. We sought to assess the staging accuracy of patients with SMPLC at our tertiary institution. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all patients who were evaluated for lung cancer resection between January 2018 to September 2019. Patients with SMPLC were identified using the modified MartiniMelamed criteria. Preoperative imaging, clinical assessment, and pathologic interpretation were reviewed and compared to the final staging assigned by a multidisciplinary lung cancer tumor board to determine accuracy. Results: Out of 227 patients presenting for lung cancer resection, 47 patients with 119 SMPLC were identified, of which 38 (80.9% ) were incorrectly staged by at least one report. Incorrect staging was most common by computed tomography (CT) reports (n=33/47, 70.2%), followed by positron emission tomography -CT (PET -CT) reports (n=28/45, 62.2%), surgeons' clinical assessment (n=10/47, 21.3%), and histopathology reports (n=8/47, 17.0%). CT reports, when incorrect, under -staged 97.0% (n=32) of patients. PET -CT reports, when incorrect, over -staged 25.0% (n=7) of patients by reporting the second primary nodule to be "consistent with metastasis". Histopathology reports, when incorrect, over -staged 87.5% (n=7) of patients despite lack of lymph node involvement. Conclusions: Patients with SMPLC are at risk of receiving incorrect treatment based on radiographic and histopathologic staging reports alone. The observed staging inaccuracies are concerning, necessitating increased awareness among physicians caring for lung cancer patients.