Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Cancer Res 2019 Apr 23. Epub 2019 Apr 23.

Diagnostic Imaging, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

The cell membrane glycolipid GD2 is expressed by multiple solid tumors, including 88% of osteosarcomas and 98% of neuroblastomas. However, osteosarcomas are highly heterogeneous with many tumors exhibiting GD2 expression on <50% of the individual cells while some tumors are essentially GD2-negative. Anti-GD2 immunotherapy is the current standard of care for high-risk neuroblastoma, but its application to recurrent osteosarcomas, for which no effective therapies exist, has been extremely limited. Read More

Adv Radiat Oncol 2019 Apr-Jun;4(2):429-437. Epub 2018 Nov 26.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.

Purpose: Quantitative changes in positron emission tomography with computed tomography imaging metrics over serial scans may be predictive biomarkers. We evaluated the relationship of pretreatment metabolic tumor growth rate (MTGR) and standardized uptake value velocity (SUVV) with disease recurrence or death in patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer treated with stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SABR).

Methods And Materials: Under institutional review board approval, we retrospectively identified patients who underwent positron emission tomography with computed tomography at diagnosis and staging and simulation for SABR. Read More

Clin Cancer Res 2019 Apr 22. Epub 2019 Apr 22.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.

Tumors are continuously evolving biological systems, and medical imaging is uniquely positioned to monitor changes throughout treatment. Although qualitatively tracking lesions over space and time may be trivial, the development of clinically relevant, automated radiomics methods that incorporate serial imaging data is far more challenging. In this study, we evaluated deep learning networks for predicting clinical outcomes through analyzing time series CT images of patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Read More

J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 2019 Apr 20:271678X19843776. Epub 2019 Apr 20.

1 Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden.

Osimertinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) of the mutated epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFRm) with observed efficacy in patients with brain metastases. Brain exposure and drug distribution in tumor regions are important criteria for evaluation and confirmation of CNS efficacy. The aim of this PET study was therefore to determine brain distribution and exposure of C-labelled osimertinib administered intravenously in subjects with an intact blood-brain barrier. Read More

J Thorac Oncol 2019 Apr 16. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Division of Cancer Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK; Department of Clinical Oncology, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK.

Introduction: We used phase-3 CONVERT trial data to investigate the impact of fludeoxyglucose (F-FDG) PET/CT in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC).

Methods: CONVERT randomized limited-stage SCLC patients to twice-daily (45Gy in 30-fractions) or once-daily (66Gy in 33-fractions) chemoradiotherapy. Patients were divided into 2 groups in this unplanned analysis: those staged with conventional imaging (contrast-enhanced thorax and abdomen CT and brain imaging with/without bone scintigraphy) and those staged with F-FDG PET/CT in addition. Read More

Bosn J Basic Med Sci 2019 Apr 18. Epub 2019 Apr 18.

Nuclear Medicine Department, Firat University Medical Faculty, Elazığ, Turkey.

In some non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, lipid-poor adrenal adenomas cannot be adequately differentiated from metastases using imaging methods. Invasive diagnostic procedures also have a low negative predictive value (NPV) in such cases. The current study aims to establish a specific and clinically practical metabolic parameter for lipid-poor adrenal lesions (ALs) in NSCLC patients. Read More

Eur J Cancer 2019 Apr 13;113:87-95. Epub 2019 Apr 13.

Department of Oncology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Department of Oncology, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, United Kingdom. Electronic address:

Background: Pre-clinically, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibition radiosensitises tumours by increasing intrinsic radiosensitivity and by reducing tumour hypoxia. We assessed whether buparlisib, a class 1 PI3K inhibitor, can be safely combined with radiotherapy in patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) and investigated its effect on tumour hypoxia.

Methods: This was a 3 + 3 dose escalation and dose expansion phase I trial in patients with advanced NSCLC. Read More

Exp Ther Med 2019 May 7;17(5):3621-3629. Epub 2019 Mar 7.

Diagnostic Room of Computer Tomography, Shandong Medical Imaging Research Institute, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Treatment of Cardio-Cerebral Vascular Disease, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250021, P.R. China.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the utility of a computed tomography (CT)-based radiomics signature for the early prediction of the tumor response of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients to chemotherapy. A dataset including 92 patients from a clinical trial was retrospectively assembled. All of the patients received the standard first-line regimen of etoposide and cisplatin. Read More

J Thorac Imaging 2019 Apr 12. Epub 2019 Apr 12.

Departments of Radiology.

Purpose: Targeted inhibition of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) has been widely used for the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with ALK rearrangements. We performed tumor volume analysis of ALK-rearranged advanced NSCLC treated with crizotinib to identify an early predictive marker for prolonged survival.

Materials And Methods: Cases of 42 patients with ALK-rearranged advanced NSCLC (16 men, 26 women; median age: 55. Read More

Eur J Radiol Open 2019 29;6:128-131. Epub 2019 Mar 29.

Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 73 Francis St., Boston, MA, 02115 USA.

Purpose: The presence of interstitial lung abnormality (ILA) at diagnosis of stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients has previously shown to be associated with shorter overall survival (OS). The present study aimed to validate the association between ILA and shorter OS in a larger cohort of treatment-naïve stage IV NSCLC patients.

Materials And Methods: This study includes 484 patients (205 men and 279 women) with a pathological diagnosis of stage IV NSCLC with pretreatment baseline CT available for review. Read More

Front Oncol 2019 29;9:199. Epub 2019 Mar 29.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.

There is increasing use of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) across multiple cancer types, including in patients at risk for vertebral metastases and cord compression. These patients are often treated with palliative radiotherapy (PRT); however, data evaluating the combination of PRT and ICB in patients with vertebral metastases is limited. Furthermore, patients with cord compression are generally excluded from prospective clinical trials. Read More

Thorac Cancer 2019 Apr 13. Epub 2019 Apr 13.

Department of Oncology IV, First Hospital of Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang, China.

Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1 is currently considered the indicator to assess the curative effect of cancer. However, radiographic measurements often fail to detect tiny lesions or changes in the tumor burden, while tumor biomarkers possess low sensitivity and stability. Read More

Phys Med Biol 2019 Apr 12. Epub 2019 Apr 12.

Radiation Oncology, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Richmond, Virginia, UNITED STATES.

Purpose: To evaluate the repeatability of MRI and CT derived texture features and to investigate the feasibility of use in predictive single and multi-modality models for radiotherapy of non-small cell lung cancer. Methods: Fifty-nine texture features were extracted from unfiltered and wavelet filtered images. Repeatability of test-retest features from helical 4D CT scans, true fast MRI with steady state precession (TRUFISP), and volumetric interpolation breath-hold examination (VIBE) was determined by the concordance correlation coefficient (CCC). Read More

Clin Neurol Neurosurg 2019 May 19;180:117-121. Epub 2019 Mar 19.

Klinik für Radioonkologie und Strahlentherapie, Universitätsklinikum Leipzig, Stephanstraße 9 a, 04103, Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address:

Objectives: Brain metastasis (BM) is a major complication of different cancers. There is increasing evidence for influence of vascular factors on BM in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It is not known if the same is true for other tumors that might rely on different forms of vasculogenesis. Read More

Niger J Clin Pract 2019 Apr;22(4):585-587

Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Health Sciences University Bursa Yuksek Ihtisas Education and Research Hospital, Bursa, Turkey.

Warthin's tumors which can easily be subjected to misinterpretation are encountered commonly in clinical practice. Warthin's tumors which generally have the localization of parotid gland cauda and have a slow growing characteristic can rarely be seen aside from parotid gland; such as cervical lymph nodes and minor salivary glands. A 56-year-old patient's case that comprised atypical coexistence of Warthin tumor with PET/CT scan positive cervical lymph nodes during the diagnostic examination carried out for a pulmonary mass lesion is presented. Read More

World J Surg Oncol 2019 Apr 8;17(1):63. Epub 2019 Apr 8.

Department of Anatomical and Clinical Pathology, Wesley Medical Center, 550 N. Hillside St, Wichita, KS, 67214, USA.

Introduction: Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths globally. Metastatic disease is often found at the time of initial diagnosis in the majority of lung cancer patients. However, colonic metastases are rare. Read More

J Exp Clin Cancer Res 2019 Apr 5;38(1):148. Epub 2019 Apr 5.

Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, 519000, China.

Background: Recent Clinical trials of administration of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) in combination with standard first-line chemotherapy have failed to improve survival in patients with advanced NSCLC, However, the sequential treatment with EGFR-TKIs and chemotherapy is expected to improve survival of NSCLC. The aim of this study is to test the antiproliferative effect of pemetrexed combined with icotinib in different sequences on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines to determine the optimal combination schedule, and subsequently elaborated the potential mechanisms.

Methods: Six human lung cancer cell lines with wild-type or mutant EGFR gene were exposed to pemetrexed and icotinib combined in different sequences. Read More

Cancer Res 2019 Apr 5. Epub 2019 Apr 5.

Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy

Targeting microenvironmental factors that foster migratory cell phenotypes is a promising strategy for halting tumor migration. However, lack of mechanistic understanding of the emergence of migratory phenotypes impedes pharmaceutical drug development. Using our 3D microtumor model with tight control over tumor size, we recapitulated the tumor size-induced hypoxic microenvironment and emergence of migratory phenotypes in microtumors from epithelial breast cells and patient-derived primary metastatic breast cancer cells, mesothelioma cells, and lung cancer xenograft cells (PDX). Read More

Cir Cir 2019 ;86(1):72-76

Rehabilitation Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Guanajuato. León, Gto., Mexico.

Background: Neurological paraneoplastic syndromes are rare, occur in 0.01% of all cancer patients; like part of them, the Lambert-Eaton syndrome is an autoimmune presynaptic disorder of neuromuscular transmission characterized by muscle weakness and neurovegetative dysfunction, and often associated with small cell lung cancer.

Case Report: A 72 years old female with a family history of lung cancer and leukemia, with 7 months of dry cough and 3 months with waist and pelvic muscle weakness, oropharyngeal dysphagia, dry mouth, chronic constipation and weight loss of 10 kg. Read More

Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 2019 Apr 2. Epub 2019 Apr 2.

Department of Ultrasound, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 241 Huaihai Road West, Shanghai, China.

Right ventricular (RV) impairment after cancer therapy-related cardiotoxicity and its prognostic implications in lung cancer have not been examined. The present research sought to evaluate RV structure, function, and mechanics in stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) before and after concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT), and to explore the associations between RV impairments, radiation dose, and all-cause mortality. This prospective investigation included 128 inoperable NSCLC patients who were scheduled to receive CCRT. Read More

Med Phys 2019 Mar 31. Epub 2019 Mar 31.

Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. Knoxville, TN, USA.

Purpose: The fundamental nature of PET, as an event detection system, provides some flexibility for data handling, including retrospective data manipulation. The reorganization of acquisition data allows the emulation of new scans arising from identical radiotracer spatial distributions, but with different statistical compositions, and is especially useful for evaluating the stability and reproducibility of reconstruction algorithms or when investigating extremely low count conditions. This approach is ubiquitous in the research literature but has only been validated, from the point of view of the noise properties, with numerical simulations and phantom data. Read More

Phys Med 2019 Mar 9;59:100-106. Epub 2019 Mar 9.

Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, 4-24-1 Kuhonji, Kumamoto, Japan.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of inline magnetic field on dose distribution for volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) in lung tumors located at the chest wall and mediastinum. Two VMAT plans for a thorax phantom with lung tumors of 1 cm and 2 cm in diameter located at the chest wall were created by a treatment planning system. Next, five clinical VMAT plans for a non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at early stages I and II of 5 cm or less in diameter were also used. Read More

Diagnostics (Basel) 2019 Mar 26;9(1). Epub 2019 Mar 26.

Dept. of Clinical Physiology, Nuclear Medicine & PET and Cluster for Molecular Imaging, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Blegdamsvej 9, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.

With the increasing number of therapy options available for patients with lung cancer, early response evaluation is needed. We performed this pilot study to assess the feasibility of early, repeated Positron emission tomography-magnetic resonance (PET/MR), the impact of timing and the capability for response prediction in lung tumors during chemotherapy. Patients with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer referred for chemotherapy were prospectively recruited. Read More

Q J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2019 Mar 25. Epub 2019 Mar 25.

PET/CT Center, Gansu Provincial Hospital, Gansu, China.

Background: 18F-FDG PET/CT metabolic characteristics provide the crucial biologic and molecular information for tumors. To explore the relationships between 18F-FDG PET/CT derived parameters such as maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), total lesion glycolysis (TLG) of primary tumor and clinical stage in different histopathologic subtypes of lung cancer.

Methods: A total of 97 newly diagnosed lung cancer patients (69 males, 28 females; average age 65. Read More

Int J Med Sci 2019 29;16(3):403-408. Epub 2019 Jan 29.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Jinan, Shandong, 250014, China.

The death receptor 5 (DR5) is a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily that can transduce the apoptosis signal in cells. This study assessed serum levels of soluble death receptor 5 (sDR5) in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients compared with those in healthy controls. Clinicopathological features of patients, treatment responses, and overall survival of patients were also recorded and analyzed. Read More

Zhongguo Fei Ai Za Zhi 2019 Mar;22(3):167-172

Department of Nuclear Medicine, the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266100, China.

Tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging system is the most important basis for making therapeutic decisions and predicting prognosis of lung cancer patients. The metabolic parameters including standardized uptake value (SUV), metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) measured by ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT) associate with tumor aggressiveness and can provide additional prognostic information. A new staging methodology combines the conventional cTNM with the metabolic tumor burden quantified from the PET images is a better predictor of overall survival with superior stratifying power may help oncologists to make better treatment plans. Read More

Zhongguo Fei Ai Za Zhi 2019 Mar;22(3):132-136

Department of Respiratory Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing 100730, China.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical features of paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis (PLE) with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and improve clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Methods: The clinical data of 15 patients with SCLC combined with PLE from January 1980 to May 2017 were collected from Beijing Union Hospital. Their symptoms and laboratory data were analyzed and the prognosis of the patients was followed. Read More

Clin Radiol 2019 Mar 21. Epub 2019 Mar 21.

Department of Radiology, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Campus Virchow Klinikum, Berlin, Germany; Department of Radiology, University Hospital Munich, Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU), Munich, Germany. Electronic address:

Aim: To investigate how spectral computed tomography (SCT) values impact the staging of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

Materials And Methods: One hundred and thirteen patients with confirmed NSCLC were included in a prospective cohort study. All patients underwent single-phase contrast-enhanced SCT (using the fast tube voltage switching technique, 80-140 kV). Read More

Nanotheranostics 2019 11;3(1):120-134. Epub 2019 Feb 11.

Department of Chemistry, Pittsburg State University, 1701 S. Broadway Street, Pittsburg, Kansas 66762, United States.

K-RAS is the most common mutated oncogene associated with Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). So far, there are no promising chemotherapies for the direct inhibition of K-RAS, and considered to be undruggable. In this work, we have introduced a new platinum-based cyanoximate complex, Pt(MCO) as an anti-cancer drug to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of Hsp90 inhibitor drug, ganetespib for the combination therapy of NSCLC. Read More

Clin Radiol 2019 Mar 18. Epub 2019 Mar 18.

Department of Nuclear Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:

Aim: To assess the prognostic value of 2-[F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG) positron-emission tomography (PET)-based radiomics using a machine learning approach in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Materials And Methods: Ninety-three patients with stage I-III NSCLC who underwent combined PET/computed tomography (CT) followed by curative resection. A total of 35 unique quantitative radiomic features was extracted from the PET images, which included imaging phenotypes such as pixel intensity, shape, and texture. Read More

Oncol Rep 2019 May 20;41(5):2636-2646. Epub 2019 Mar 20.

Department of Thoracic Surgery, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai 200032, P.R. China.

Non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) metastasis commonly occurs in bone, which often results in pathological fractures. Sustained phosphoinositide‑3‑kinase (PI3K) signalling promotes the growth of PI3K‑dependent NSCLC and elevates osteoclastogenic potential. The present study investigated the effects of a PI3K inhibitor on NSCLC growth in bone and osteoclast formation, and aimed to determine whether it could control symptoms associated with bone metastasis. Read More

Medicine (Baltimore) 2019 Mar;98(12):e14893

Department of Lung Cancer and Gastroenterology.

Transformation to small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is one of the mechanisms of resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). However, it is uncertain how it works and there is no standard treatment after the transformation. In this study, 7 patients with transformation of SCLC from advanced lung adenocarcinoma (ADC) were analyzed retrospectively and the clinical pathology, imaging characteristics and treatment were analyzed. Read More

Ann Oncol 2019 Mar 21. Epub 2019 Mar 21.

Department of Radiology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Introduction: Immunotherapy is regarded one of the major breakthroughs in cancer treatment. Despite its success, only a subset of patients responds - urging the quest for predictive biomarkers. We hypothesize that Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms can automatically quantify radiographic characteristics that are related to and may therefore act as non-invasive radiomic biomarkers for immunotherapy response. Read More

Nat Biotechnol 2019 Mar 18. Epub 2019 Mar 18.

Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.

Endogenous biomarkers remain at the forefront of early disease detection efforts, but many lack the sensitivities and specificities necessary to influence disease management. Here, we describe a cell-based in vivo sensor for highly sensitive early cancer detection. We engineer macrophages to produce a synthetic reporter on adopting an M2 tumor-associated metabolic profile by coupling luciferase expression to activation of the arginase-1 promoter. Read More

Lung Cancer 2019 Apr 19;130:194-200. Epub 2019 Feb 19.

Roche Diagnostics International Ltd, Rotkreuz, Switzerland. Electronic address:

Objectives: The biomarkers cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA 21-1) and human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) are useful in the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but their combination has not been investigated yet. The objective of this analysis was to evaluate the ability of CYFRA 21-1 and HE4 to predict recurrence as part of follow-up monitoring in patients with adenocarcinoma (ADC) of the lung.

Materials And Methods: Serum samples were collected from patients with stage I-IIIA ADC preoperatively and during follow-up at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months and then every 6-12 months up to 5 years post-R0 resection. Read More

Cancer Imaging 2019 Mar 18;19(1):14. Epub 2019 Mar 18.

UCLA Brain Tumor Imaging Laboratory (BTIL), Center for Computer Vision and Imaging Biomarkers, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Purpose: To identify clinically relevant magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of different types of metastatic brain lesions, including standard anatomical, diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) perfusion MRI.

Methods: MRI imaging was retrospectively assessed on one hundred and fourteen (N = 114) brain metastases including breast (n = 27), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC, n = 43) and 'other' primary tumors (n = 44). Based on 114 patient's MRI scans, a total of 346 individual contrast enhancing tumors were manually segmented. Read More

Thorac Cancer 2019 Apr 18;10(4):980-987. Epub 2019 Mar 18.

Positron Imaging Center, Aizawa Hospital, Matsumoto, Japan.

Background: Fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) uptake in primary lesions has been well studied, but little information is available about metastatic bone lesions in patients with lung cancer. The present study was performed to evaluate the relationships between metastatic bone FDG uptake and clinical parameters in patients with lung cancer.

Methods: FDG uptake was evaluated as the maximum standardized uptake (SUVmax) value of each targeted bone lesion, and the bone to primary lesion ratio of SUVmax (B/P ratio) was calculated. Read More

Magn Reson Med Sci 2019 Mar 18. Epub 2019 Mar 18.

Division of Functional and Diagnostic Imaging Research, Department of Radiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine.

Purpose: To directly compare the utility for therapeutic outcome prediction of dynamic first-pass contrast-enhanced (CE)-perfusion area-detector computed tomography (ADCT), MR imaging assessed with the same mathematical method and 2-[fluorine-18]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose-positron emission tomography combined with CT (PET/CT) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with chemoradiotherapy.

Materials And Methods: Forty-three consecutive stage IIIB NSCLC patients, consisting of 25 males (mean age ± standard deviation: 66.6 ± 8. Read More

BMC Cancer 2019 Mar 12;19(1):220. Epub 2019 Mar 12.

Department of Pharmacy Practice and Translational Research, University of Houston College of Pharmacy, Houston, TX, USA.

Background: Breast cancer patient-derived xenograft (BC-PDX) models represent a continuous and reproducible source of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) for studying their role in tumor biology and metastasis. We have previously shown the utility of BC-PDX models in the study of CTCs by immunohistochemistry (IHC) on serial paraffin sections and manual microscopic identification of cytokeratin-positive cells, a method that is both low-throughput and labor-intensive. We therefore aimed to identify and characterize CTCs from small volume mouse blood samples and examined its practical workflow in a study of BC-PDX mice treated with chemotherapy using an automated imaging platform, the AccuCyte®-CyteFinder® system. Read More

Cancers (Basel) 2019 Mar 12;11(3). Epub 2019 Mar 12.

Federal Research Center "Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science", Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia.

We selected DNA aptamers to the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) expressed on primary lung cancer cells isolated from the tumors of patients with non-small cell lung cancer using competitive displacement of aptamers from EpCAM by a corresponding antibody. The resulting aptamers clones showed good nanomolar affinity to EpCAM-positive lung cancer cells. Confocal microscopy imaging and spectral profiling of lung cancer tissues confirmed the same protein target for the aptamers and anti-EpCAM antibodies. Read More

Neoplasma 2019 Mar 10;2019. Epub 2019 Mar 10.

Department of Pathology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Ajou University, Suwon, South Korea.

Two pentose phosphate pathway-related proteins, NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/ NAD(P)H dehydrogenase (Quinone) 1 (NQO1) regulate the expression of glucose metabolism and antioxidant genes. We evaluated the prognostic significance of NRF2, NQO1 and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET) parameter and their relationship with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) histology. A total of 241 patients, who underwent surgical resection for NSCLC, were reviewed retrospectively. Read More

Neuropathology 2019 Apr 13;39(2):147-155. Epub 2019 Mar 13.

Department of Pathology, Mitsui Memorial Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.

Miliary brain metastasis is a rare type of brain metastasis, in which carcinoma cells disseminate to numerous foci confined to Virchow-Robin/subpial spaces. Symptoms usually progress within several months, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) shows multiple small contrast-enhancing lesions. We report an autopsy case of a patient who rapidly deteriorated within a week due to miliary brain metastasis after epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) discontinuation, without contrast-enhancing lesions on MRI. Read More

Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2019 Mar 13. Epub 2019 Mar 13.

Department of Nuclear Medicine, Henri Becquerel Cancer Center and Rouen University Hospital, & QuantIF - LITIS [EA (Equipe d'Accueil) 4108 - FR CNRS 3638], Faculty of Medicine, University of Rouen, Rouen, France.

Purpose: Chemoradiotherapy is the reference curative-intent treatment for nonresectable locally advanced non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), with unsatisfactory survival, partially due to radiation resistance in hypoxic tissues. The objective was to update survival and toxicity at 3 years following radiotherapy boost to hypoxic tumours in NSCLC patients treated with curative-intent chemoradiotherapy.

Methods: This was an open-label, nonrandomized, multicentre, phase II clinical trial. Read More

J Exp Clin Cancer Res 2019 Mar 11;38(1):122. Epub 2019 Mar 11.

Department of Oral Biology and Diagnostic Sciences, Dental College of Georgia, Augusta University, 1120 15th Street, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA.

Background: Metastatic lung cancer is a life-threatening condition that develops when cancer in another area of the body metastasizes, or spreads, to the lung. Despite advances in our understanding of primary lung oncogenesis, the biological basis driving the progression from primary to metastatic lung cancer remains poorly characterized.

Methods: Genetic knockdown of the particular genes in cancer cells were achieved by lentiviral-mediated interference. Read More

Radiat Oncol 2019 Mar 13;14(1):44. Epub 2019 Mar 13.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, 270 Dong An Road, Shanghai, 200032, China.

Background: Despite development of several next-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), crizotinib remains one of the first-line treatment options for advanced ALK-positive NSCLC and is widely used in situations where next-generation TKIs aren't yet approved or economically inaccessible. However, the pattern of failure and clinical value of radiotherapy in metastatic crizotinib-treated ALK-mutant lung cancer, with or without baseline brain metastases (BBM), are largely unknown.

Methods: Consecutive crizotinib-treated NSCLC patients with adequate imaging and measurable disease were retrospectively enrolled. Read More

J Thorac Dis 2019 Jan;11(1):214-221

Department of Radiation Oncology, Kobe Minimally Invasive Cancer Center, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.

Background: The treatment efficacy after CyberKnife stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) have not been adequately addressed. The purpose of this study was to investigate pattern of recurrence according to irradiation field after CyberKnife SBRT for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: This retrospective study included patients with peripheral cT1/2N0M0 NSCLC that was treated with SBRT using a CyberKnife between May 2013 and March 2016 at single institute and followed up by more than two imaging examinations. Read More

Hepatol Res 2019 Mar 12. Epub 2019 Mar 12.

Third Department of Internal Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan.

A 66-year-old man was admitted to our department due to cholestatic liver injury. He had received five cycles of pembrolizumab for small-cell lung cancer. Imaging showed the possibility of sclerosing cholangitis (SC) with hemobilia. Read More

J Xray Sci Technol 2019 Mar 2. Epub 2019 Mar 2.

Department of Radiology, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.

Gradient based image fusion can more effectively incorporate edge details using structure tensor, which is successfully used in 2D image fusion. In this study, we generalized and applied this gradient based image fusion method into 3D for non-small cell lung cancer PET/CT image fusion. According the characteristic of lung PET/CT images, we proposed a novel 3D structure tensor based feature, which can be used to construct a weighted structure tensor containing important local detail of both PET and CT images. Read More

Tomography 2019 Mar;5(1):145-153

Departments of Radiology.

We identified computational imaging features on 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) that predict recurrence/progression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We retrospectively identified 291 patients with NSCLC from 2 prospectively acquired cohorts (training, n = 145; validation, n = 146). We contoured the metabolic tumor volume (MTV) on all pretreatment PET images and added a 3-dimensional penumbra region that extended outward 1 cm from the tumor surface. Read More

Ann Transl Med 2019 Jan;7(2):33

Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.

Clinical staging of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is used for planning therapeutic strategies. In particular, pleural invasion is regarded as an indicator for upstaging to T2 or T3 in the current 8th TNM staging system; patients with pleural invasion should be indicated for lobectomy rather than sublobar resection. Therefore, accurate preoperative prediction of pleural invasion is important for surgical planning. Read More