Objective To evaluate the predicted value of low-invasive pulmonary nodules and high-invasive lesions(≤2cm in maximal diameter) by analyzing the correlations between MSCT signs and its histopathologic subtypes. Methods The MSCT signs and pathology data of 95 patients (97 lesions) were enrolled in this study. Among which 33 nodules were low-invasive lesions and 58 nodules were high-invasive lesions. The relationships between MSCT signs and histopathologic subtypes were analyzed by using fisher's exact test and receiver operating characteristic curve. Results The analysis of 97 lesions showed that there were statistically significant difference between low-invasive lesions and high-invasive lesions, among tumor maximal diameter, the proportion of solid lesions, lobulation, vascular convergence, pleura indentation(P<0.05). ROC analysis showed that the threshold was 10.2mm in maximal diameter, and the sensitivity and specificity of differential diagnosis was 72.9% and 81.6%.The proportion of solid lesions was 37.4%, and the sensitivity and specificity of differential diagnosis was 84.7% and 81.5%. Conclusion The tumor maximal diameter, the proportion of solid lesions, lobulation, vascular convergence and pleura indentation may help to differentiate the invasiveness of lung cancer presenting as small nodules.