Ikeda T, Kadota K, Yoshida C, et al. - Researchers analyzed patients with therapy-naïve lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma undergoing lobectomy (n = 635) to determine how epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype impacts the occurrence of spread through air spaces (STAS) in lung carcinoma. The presence of tumor cells within air spaces in the lung parenchyma beyond the edge of the main tumor defined STAS. In this study, STAS was seen less frequently in tumors with epithelial phenotype vs those with non-epithelial phenotype among patients with resected lung carcinoma. A higher rate of STAS was noted in correlation with the nuclear translocation of β-catenin. In patients with STAS, study results suggest an independent value of the mesenchymal state for predicting high risk of recurrence. EMT phenotype was independent prognostic factor of recurrence in STAS patients.