Diagnostic Performance and Imaging Features of Dual-Phase Contrast-Enhanced CT in Peripheral Lung Cancer - A Prospective Study With Pathological Correlation

Sep 23, 2026

Peripheral lung cancer often presents with insidious, nonspecific early symptoms, delaying diagnosis and worsening prognosis. This prospective study assesses dual-phase contrast-enhanced CT as a noninvasive diagnostic tool by comparing arterial/venous enhancement imaging features with histopathology in 120 patients with suspected peripheral lung cancer. Dual-phase CT showed sensitivity 82.72%, specificity 74.36%, accuracy 80.00%, PLR 3.23, and NLR 0.23. Cancer lesions more often showed irregular shape, blurred margins, spiculation, and higher rates of enhancement, vascular invasion, and lymph node metastasis.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Objective and rationale

Material/Methods

Study design and patient groups

Imaging and reference standard

Diagnostic metrics

Results

Diagnostic accuracy and likelihood ratios

Imaging feature differences

Conclusions

Clinical value of dual-phase CT

CLINICAL RESEARCH e-ISSN 1643-3750 © Med Sci Monit, 2026; 32: e952575 DOI: 10. 12659/MSM.952575 Received: 2026.12.25 Accepted: 2026.06.11 Available online: 2026.07.15 Published: 2026.09.12 Authors’ Contribution: Study Design A Data Collection B Statistical Analysis C Data Interpretation D Manuscript Preparation E Literature Search F Funds Collection G ABCDEFG ABCDEFG ABCDEFG Corresponding Author: Financial support: Conflict of interest: Diagnostic Performance and Imaging Features of Dual-Phase Contrast-Enhanced CTin Peripheral Lung Cancer: A Prospective Study With Pathological Correlation Yongzhe Shao Qingqing Dong Pinglin Fan Department of Imaging, The People’s Hospital of Yingshang, Fuyang, Anhui, PR China Pinglin Fan, Department of Imaging, The People’s Hospital of Yingshang, Fuyang, Anhui 236200, China Phone: 13956784177, e-mail: [fan5688@126.com](fan5688@126.com) This work was supported by the Scientific Research Project of Fuyang Health Commission in 2023 (Grant No.: FY2023-079) None declared Background: Peripheral lung cancer is characterized by an insidious onset and nonspecific early symptoms, resulting in delayed diagnosis and poor prognosis. Dual-phase contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) has potential advantages in visualizing tumor morphology and vascular characteristics; its diagnostic performance concerning pathological findings has not been fully elucidated. Material/Methods: This prospective study included 120 patients with suspected peripheral lung cancer. All patients underwent dual-phase contrast-enhanced CT scanning; histopathological examination of biopsy or surgically resected specimens served as the reference standard. Patients were divided into 2 groups: lung cancer (n = 81) and control (n = 39). CT imaging features were compared between groups. The diagnostic performance of dual-phase contrast-enhanced CT was evaluated by calculating sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), and negative likelihood ratio (NLR), along with 95% confidence intervals. Results: Dual-phase contrast-enhanced CT demonstrated a sensitivity of 82.72%, specificity of 74.36%, accuracy of 80.00%, PLR of 3.23, and NLR of 0.23 for diagnosis of peripheral lung cancer. Histopathological examination confirmed 81 cases of peripheral lung cancer and 39 benign lesions. Peripheral lung cancer lesions—more frequently located in the right lung—were characterized by irregular shape, blurred margins, and spiculated margins. The incidences of vacuoles, contrast enhancement, vascular invasion, and lymph node metastasis were significantly higher in the lung cancer group than in the control group. Conclusions: Dual-phase contrast-enhanced CT clearly demonstrated the malignant morphological and vascular characteristics of peripheral lung cancer, supporting use as a complementary noninvasive imaging modality for differential diagnosis of suspected peripheral lung cancer. Keywords: Contrast Media • Diagnostic Imaging • Lung Neoplasms • Neoplasm Staging • Radiology • Tomography, X-Ray Computed Full-text PDF: [https://www.medscimonit.com/abstract/index/idArt/952575](https://www.medscimonit.com/abstract/index/idArt/952575) 2989 2 3 25 Publisher’s note: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher This work is licensed under Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) e952575-1 Indexed in: [Current Contents/Clinical Medicine] [SCI Expanded] [ISI Alerting System][ISI Journals Master List] [Index Medicus/MEDLINE] [EMBASE/Excerpta Medica][Chemical Abstracts/CAS] CLINICAL RESEARCH [Shao Y. et](Shao Y. et) al: Dual-p

FAQs

What was the main objective of the study?

To evaluate the diagnostic performance of dual-phase contrast-enhanced CT for peripheral lung cancer by comparing CT findings with detailed histopathology in 120 patients.

How were patients grouped and what was the reference standard?

Patients with suspected peripheral lung cancer underwent dual-phase contrast-enhanced CT, and histopathological examination of biopsy or surgically resected specimens served as the reference standard; there were 81 lung cancer cases and 39 controls with benign lesions.

What diagnostic performance did dual-phase contrast-enhanced CT achieve?

Dual-phase contrast-enhanced CT achieved sensitivity of 82.72%, specificity of 74.36%, accuracy of 80.00%, PLR of 3.23, and NLR of 0.23 for diagnosing peripheral lung cancer.

Sep 23, 2026

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