[An attempt at angiographic characterization of pulmonary arterial distribution in small-sized lung cancers originating in the peripheral region of the lung].

In order to clarify the distribution pattern of the pulmonary vessels, which are one of the supply sources of small-sized lung cancers, we studied tumors of less than 3.5 cm in diameter, which were made available to our department, by pre-operative pulmonary angiography, as well as microangiography of the surgically resected lung. Morphological study of the pulmonary arterial trees in various tumors revealed that they may be classified into either highly vascular or poorly vascularized subtypes. In addition to the morphological study of the pulmonary arterial trees, a correlative study of the extent of the area covered with the intraneoplastic pulmonary arteries and the tumor area was attempted. In the highly vascularized group, moderate or highly differentiated adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma, or alveolar cell carcinoma were observed. In the latter group, poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, large cell or small cell type undifferentiated carcinoma were observed. Thus it is concluded that visualization of vessel distribution in the tumor parenchyma is made possible by the technique of selective pulmonary angiopathy which leads to identification of the detailed histological patterns and degree of differentiation. This may offer very versatile diagnostic information on the efficacy of selective pulmonary anti-cancer infusion therapy against small-sized lung cancers which originate mainly in the peripheral region.