Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Ann Transl Med 2021 Apr;9(8):623

Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University & Jiangsu Cancer Hospital & Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular and Translational Cancer Research, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, Nanjing, China.

Background: Lung cancer is the most threatening malignant tumor to human health and life. Using a variety of machine learning algorithms and statistical analyses, this paper explores, discovers and demonstrates new indicators for the early diagnosis of lung cancer and their diagnostic performance from large samples of clinical data in the real world.

Methods: By applying machine learning methods, including minimum description length (MDL), naive Bayesian (NB), K-means (KM), nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF), and decision tree (DT), based on large sample data of 2,502 patients, we built a classification model and systematically explored differences in fibrinogen levels in different clinical stages of lung cancer between the sexes. Read More

Cancer 2021 May 10. Epub 2021 May 10.

Pathology Consultants, Westlake Village, California.

During the period from 1962 to 1977, several antigens, notably carcinoembryonic antigen and prostate-specific antigen, were discovered and entered clinical use. Ultrasonography, positron emission tomography scanning, and magnetic resonance imaging were introduced, and adjuvant radiation and chemotherapy after limited surgery became routine procedures. Radioimmunoassay and immunohistochemistry techniques were standardized. Read More

World J Clin Cases 2021 Apr;9(12):2811-2815

Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei 114, Taiwan.

Background: Primary carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma arising from the tracheobronchial system is rarely reported.

Case Summary: We present a patient with primary carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma of the bronchus and review the associated literature for further comparison, including age, clinical manifestations, and diagnostic process. This patient had no history of neoplasms of the salivary gland. Read More

Front Med (Lausanne) 2021 22;8:664529. Epub 2021 Apr 22.

Unità Operativa Complessa (UOC) di Medicina Nucleare, Dipartimento di Diagnostica per Immagini, Radioterapia Oncologica ed Ematologia, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy.

To evaluate the performance of artificial neural networks (aNN) applied to preoperative F-FDG PET/CT for predicting nodal involvement in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. We retrospectively analyzed data from 540 clinically resectable NSCLC patients (333 M; 67.4 ± 9 years) undergone preoperative F-FDG PET/CT and pulmonary resection with hilo-mediastinal lymphadenectomy. Read More

Indian J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2021 May 3;37(3):357-359. Epub 2021 Jan 3.

Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET-CT, Tata Medical Center, Kolkata, West Bengal 700084 India.

We present a rare case of an aberrant right vertebral artery originating from the arch of aorta distal to the origin of the left subclavian artery. The incidence of this particular variant of aberrant origin of the right vertebral artery is extremely uncommon with only seventeen cases reported in literature to date. This case was incidentally detected on a staging positron emission tomography-computerized tomography (PET-CT) scan for lung cancer. Read More

Ann Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2021 May 8. Epub 2021 May 8.

Department of Pathology, Avicenne University Hospital, Paris 13 University, Bobigny, France.

In locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), mediastinal staging is the cornerstone of the therapeutic decision and echoendoscopy is the most practiced exam to assess the lymph node involvement. We describe a rare case of endobronchial involvement by cells originating from a metastatic lymph node after endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS). A 64-year-old man was diagnosed with a squamous cell lung cancer with mediastinal nodal involvement proven by EBUS. Read More

Clin Lung Cancer 2021 Mar 26. Epub 2021 Mar 26.

Department of Radiation Oncology, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA. Electronic address:

Background: Conflicting data exists regarding the benefit of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) in patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC). We sought to retrospectively review outcomes of patients within our network with ES-SCLC treated with and without PCI between 2009 and 2020.

Methods: Endpoints assessed using the Kaplan-Meier estimator were overall survival (OS), freedom from death with uncontrolled intracranial disease (UI-DFS), brain metastasis-free survival (BMFS), and symptomatic BMFS (SBMFS). Read More

Ann Palliat Med 2021 Apr;10(4):4987-4993

Department of Thoracic Surgery, Fuzhou Pulmonary Hospital of Fujian, Fuzhou, China.

The patient was a middle-aged male smoker who had space-occupying lesions in the right upper lung, Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) suggested right upper lung cancer with multiple mediastinal lymph node metastases. Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial lung biopsy (EBUS-GS-TBLB) performed in the bronchus of the right apical segment confirmed the lesion as squamous cell carcinoma. Neoadjuvant therapy was planned. Read More

Ann Palliat Med 2021 Apr;10(4):4965-4969

Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China.

The 5-year survival rate of patients with stage IIIB non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) range is 26%. Pathological complete response (pCR) is the best outcome after treatment for stage IIIB NSCLC. For patients with stage IIIB NSCLC, concurrent chemoradiotherapy with a curative intent is currently the standard treatment. Read More

Ann Palliat Med 2021 Apr;10(4):4959-4964

Department of Lung Cancer, Lung Cancer Center, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, National Clinical Research Center of Cancer, Tianjin, China.

The incidence and prevalence of obesity is drastically increasing worldwide. Clinical surgeons treating cancer patients often encounter obese patients. However, cases of surgical lung cancer patients with morbid obesity and poor pulmonary function undergoing lobectomy have not been reported. Read More

Ann Palliat Med 2021 Apr;10(4):4502-4508

Department of Anesthesiology, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China; Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sichuan Translational Medicine Research Hospital, Chengdu, China.

Background: To analyze the predictive value of postoperative C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), and triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 (TREM-1) for the early detection of pulmonary infection following laparoscopic general anesthesia for cervical cancer treatment.

Methods: We enrolled 80 patients who underwent radical surgery for cervical cancer in our hospital from March 2018 to March 2020 and divided them into an infected group (n=34) and non-infected group (n=46) according to whether they were complicated by lung infection after surgery. The levels of CRP, PCT, and TREM-1 were compared between the two groups, and logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors for pulmonary infection. Read More

Lung Cancer 2021 May 3. Epub 2021 May 3.

Département multidisciplinaire de pneumologie et de chirurgie thoracique, Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec (IUCPQ), Laval University, Quebec, Canada. Electronic address:

Objectives: Medical management based on palliative chemotherapy is currently the standard of care in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). Median survival of 12-16 months has been reported with modern chemotherapy regimens with or without anti-angiogenic agents. Multimodality therapy incorporating cytoreductive surgery, systemic chemotherapy and radiotherapy has been offered for years to fit patients with early-stage disease, but its role remains debated. Read More

Eur J Radiol 2021 Apr 20;139:109718. Epub 2021 Apr 20.

Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Kerpener Straße 62, 50937, Cologne, Germany.

Purpose: To develop a deep-learning (DL)-based approach for thoracic lymph node (LN) mapping based on their anatomical location.

Method: The training-and validation-dataset included 89 contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) scans of the chest. 4201 LNs were semi-automatically segmented and then assigned to LN levels according to their anatomical location. Read More

Front Pharmacol 2021 20;12:643492. Epub 2021 Apr 20.

Department of Pulmonary Medicine, University Hospital Bern, Bern, Switzerland.

An advanced stage, centrally localized invasive tumor is a major cause of sudden death in lung cancer patients. Currently, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, laser ablation, or surgical resection if possible are the available state-of-the-art treatments but none of these guarantee remedy or long-term relief and are often associated with fatal complications. Allowing localized chemotherapy, by direct and confined drug delivery only at the tumor site, could be a promising option for preoperative down staging or palliative therapy. Read More

Eur Respir J 2021 May 6. Epub 2021 May 6.

Department of Respiratory Disease, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.

Background: Guidelines recommend endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) as an initial investigation technique for mediastinal nodal staging in lung cancer. However, EBUS-TBNA can be limited by the inadequacy of intact tissues, which might restrict its diagnostic yield in mediastinal lesions of certain etiologies. We have previously shown that EBUS-guided transbronchial mediastinal cryobiopsy can provide intact samples with greater volume. Read More

Anticancer Res 2021 May;41(5):2485-2488

Division of Medical Oncology, Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.A.

Background/aim: Cutaneous manifestations of disease are exceedingly rare and commonly overlooked in clinical practice. Allergies or contact dermatitis, autoimmune disease or skin cancer are the most common conditions typically associated with skin lesions. Rarely, cutaneous lesions may be the first sign of internal malignancy, or even resemble recurrent disease in those with history of cancer. Read More

Medicine (Baltimore) 2021 May;100(18):e25690

Oncology Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine.

Objective: We conducted this study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who underwent chemotherapy.

Design: This was a prospective, open-label, randomized controlled trial. NSCLC patients at stage IIIA, IIIB, or IV were randomly assigned to either TCM plus chemotherapy or chemotherapy alone. Read More

Cancer Med 2021 May 4. Epub 2021 May 4.

Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China.

Background: Prognostic indicators in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) have been seeking under database analysis, and remarkable advance is on the way.

Methods: This study calculated the scores of stromal and immune components of the tumor microenvironment (TME) in 551 LUAD samples using the ESTIMATE algorithm on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. R package ''limma'' was used to selected differentially expressed genes (DEG). Read More

Curr Oncol 2021 Apr 29;28(3):1681-1695. Epub 2021 Apr 29.

Department of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 5P9, Canada.

: Lung cancer (LC) care is resource and cost intensive. We launched a Multidisciplinary LC Clinic (MDC), where patients with a new LC diagnosis received concurrent oncology consultation, resulting in improved time to LC assessment and treatment. Here, we evaluate the impact of MDC on health resource utilization, patient and caregiver costs, and secondary patient benefits. Read More

Asian J Surg 2021 Apr 30. Epub 2021 Apr 30.

Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Southern Tohoku General Hospital, Research Institute for Neuroscience & Respirology, Koriyama, Japan.

Objective: We aimed to discuss the underlying oncological issues in staging of mediastinal lymph node metastasis in patients with left lung cancer who underwent extended radical lymphadenectomy (ERL).

Methods: This multi-institutional retrospective study analyzed 116 patients with left non-small-cell lung cancer who underwent bilateral paratracheal lymph node dissection (ERL) via median sternotomy. The clinicopathological records of patients with mediastinal lymph node metastasis were examined for prognostic factors, including age, sex, histology, tumor size, cN number, preoperative data, metastatic stations (number and distribution), pT, and adjuvant chemotherapy. Read More

Radiother Oncol 2021 Apr 30. Epub 2021 Apr 30.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany; Heidelberg Institute of Radiation Oncology (HIRO), Heidelberg, Germany.

Background: Adenoid cystic carcinomas (ACCs) are rare epithelial tumors mostly situated in the head and neck region and characterized by infiltrative growth. The tumor stroma of ACCs includes cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) expressing Fibroblast Activation Protein (FAP), a new target for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Here we describe the value of PET/ computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging using Ga-labelled FAP-Inhibitors (Ga-FAPI-PET/CT) and their clinical potential for staging and radiotherapy planning in 12 ACC patients (7 primary, 5 recurrent). Read More

Cancer Rep (Hoboken) 2021 May 2:e1386. Epub 2021 May 2.

Sharett Institute of Oncology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel.

Background: A recent prospective trial, the proPSMA study, showed superior specificity and sensitivity of Positron emission tomography (PET) - Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) imaging compared standard Computerized tomography (CT) and bone scan for staging of recently diagnosed high-risk local prostate carcinoma for curative intent treatment.

Aim: To share our experience with false-positive PET PSMA scans in newly diagnosed intermediate-risk prostate cancer.

Methods And Results: Here, we report a series of eight patients who underwent systemic staging using PET-PSMA with false-positive results who were ultimately treated with definitive radiation or surgery. Read More

Thorac Cancer 2021 May 2. Epub 2021 May 2.

Department of Pathology, Gyeongsang National University Changwon Hospital, Changwon, South Korea.

Background: Smoking- and nonsmoking-associated lung cancers have different mechanisms of carcinogenesis. We divided non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients into nonsmoking and smoking groups with the aim of trying to understand the utility of brain-specific angiogenesis inhibitor 1 (BAI1) expression in the separate groups.

Methods: Clinicopathological data were obtained from 148 patients who had undergone surgery for NSCLC of the lung. Read More

Chest 2021 Apr 28. Epub 2021 Apr 28.

Department of Pulmonary Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.

Background: Two models, the Help with the Assessment of Adenopathy in Lung cancer (HAL) and Help with Oncologic Mediastinal Evaluation for Radiation (HOMER), were recently developed to estimate the probability of nodal disease in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients as determined by endobronchial ultrasound-transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA). The objective of this study was to prospectively externally validate both models at multiple centers.

Research Question: Are the HAL and HOMER models valid across multiple centers?

Study Design And Methods: This multicenter prospective observational cohort study enrolled consecutive patients with PET-CT clinical-radiographic stage T1-3, N0-3, M0 NSCLC undergoing EBUS-TBNA staging. Read More

J Nucl Med 2021 Apr 30. Epub 2021 Apr 30.

Department of Medical Oncology, West-German Cancer Center, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.

Bone and soft tissue sarcomas express fibroblast activation protein (FAP) on tumor cells and associated fibroblast. Therefore, FAP is a promising therapeutic and diagnostic target. Novel radio-labelled FAP-Inhibitors (e. Read More

Clin Lung Cancer 2021 Mar 27. Epub 2021 Mar 27.

Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA. Electronic address:

Introduction: We investigated whether adding computed tomography (CT) and/or F-fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) PET radiomics features to conventional prognostic factors (CPFs) improves prognostic value in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively identified 39 cases with stage III NSCLC who received chemoradiotherapy and underwent planning CT and staging F-FDG PET scans. Seven CPFs were recorded. Read More

Lung Cancer 2021 Apr 7. Epub 2021 Apr 7.

Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Canisius-Wilhelmina Hospital, Weg Door Jonkerbos 100, 6532SZ, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

Introduction: Endobronchial Ultrasonography (EBUS) and mediastinoscopy are used for mediastinal lymph node staging in patients with suspected non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). In our hospital, confirmatory mediastinoscopy has been largely abandoned, which may reduce the number of surgical interventions and health care costs. This study provides insight into EBUS and mediastinoscopy performance in patients with proven NSCLC from January 2007 until January 2019. Read More

Front Oncol 2021 13;11:658407. Epub 2021 Apr 13.

Eye Center, University Hospital Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.

We describe a case of a 65-year old patient presenting with unusual mucocutaneous melanocytic proliferations of a Bilateral Diffuse Uveal Melanocytic Proliferation (BDUMP) imitating a multifocal melanoma in situ, which improved dramatically after plasmapheresis. The patient first presented at the dermatology department due to rapidly evolving brown and black macules on the glans penis. Further skin involvement of the perineal and perianal region, mamillae and oral mucosa was stated. Read More

Curr Oncol 2021 Apr 24;28(3):1618-1629. Epub 2021 Apr 24.

Department of Radiation Oncology, BC Cancer Agency, Surrey, BC V2V 1Z2, Canada.

Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) comprises a highly heterogenous group of patients with regards to patient fitness and tumour size and distribution, resulting in a wide range of treatment goals and therapy options. Curative-intent multimodality treatment should be considered in all patients with stage III NSCLC. For patients with unresectable disease who are fit, have adequate lung function, and have a disease that can be encompassed within a radical radiation volume, concurrent chemoradiation therapy (cCRT) is the standard of care and can produce cure rates of 20-30%. Read More

Cancers (Basel) 2021 Apr 17;13(8). Epub 2021 Apr 17.

Department of Thoracic Surgery, Hospital Universitari Mútua Terrassa, University of Barcelona, Plaza Dr. Robert 5, 08221 Terrassa, Spain.

Since its conception by Pierre Denoix in the mid-20th century, the tumor, node, and metastasis (TNM) classification has undergone seven revisions. The North American database managed by Clifton Mountain was used to inform the 2nd to the 6th editions, and an international database collected by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, promoted by Peter Goldstraw, was used to inform the 7th and the 8th editions. In these two latest editions, it was evident that the impact of tumor size was much greater than it was suggested in previous editions; that the amount of nodal disease had prognostic relevance; and that the number and location of the distant metastases had prognostic implications. Read More