Lung cancer stands as the primary cause of cancer-related mortality, with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounting for 85 % of cases [1,2]. In addition to the conventional pattern of lung cancer invasion, typically involving myofibroblast stroma, lymphovascular or pleural invasion, the spread through air spaces (STAS) has been officially defined as an unconventional mechanism [3–5]. Recently, the 9th edition of the TNM classification of lung cancer proposed to introduce STAS as a histologic…