Validation of interobserver agreement in lung cancer assessment: hematoxylin-eosin diagnostic reproducibility for non-small cell lung cancer: the 2004 World Health Organization classification and therapeutically relevant subsets

* Context.--Precise subtype diagnosis of non-small cell lung carcinoma is increasingly relevant, based on the availability of subtype-specific therapies, such as bevacizumab and pemetrexed, and based on the subtype-specific prevalence of activating epidermal growth factor receptor mutations. Objectives.--To establish a baseline measure of interobserver reproducibility for non-small cell lung carcinoma diagnoses with hematoxylin-eosin for the current 2004 World Health Organization classification, to estimate interobserver reproducibility for the therapeutically relevant squamous/nonsquamous subsets, and to examine characteristics that improve interobserver reproducibility. Design.--Primary, resected lung cancer specimens were converted to digital (virtual) slides. Based on a single hematoxylin-eosin virtual slide, pathologists were asked to assign a diagnosis using the 2004 World Health Organization classification. Kappa statistics were calculated for each pathologist-pair for each slide and were summarized by classification scheme, pulmonary pathology expertise, diagnostic confidence, and neoplastic grade. Results.--The 12 pulmonary pathology experts and the 12 community pathologists each independently diagnosed 48 to 96 single hematoxylin-eosin digital slides derived from 96 cases of non-small cell lung carcinoma resection. Overall agreement improved with simplification from the comprehensive 44 World Health Organization diagnoses (κ = 0.25) to their 10 major header subtypes (κ = 0.48) and improved again with simplification into the therapeutically relevant squamous/nonsquamous dichotomy (κ = 0.55). Multivariate analysis showed that higher diagnostic agreement was associated with better differentiation, better slide quality, higher diagnostic confidence, similar years of pathology experience, and pulmonary pathology expertise. Conclusions.--These data define the baseline diagnostic agreement for hematoxylin-eosin diagnosis of non-small cell lung carcinoma, allowing future studies to test for improved diagnostic agreement with reflex ancillary tests. (Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2013; 137:32-40; doi: 10.5858/arpa.2012-0033-OA)
The diagnosis of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) histologic subtype is the current gold standard for appropriate selection of chemotherapy, affecting the safety of bevacizumab (1) and the efficacy of [...]