Endobronchial ultrasound-transbronchial needle aspiration: effectiveness and accuracy in non-small cell lung cancer staging.

Introduction: Endobronchial ultrasound-transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) has a cardinal role in the diagnosis and staging of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), providing an accurate nodal staging in a less invasive way than surgical biopsy. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of EBUS-TBNA in the pre-operative NSCLC mediastinal staging, as well as to evaluate EBUS-TBNA specificity and sensibility in our cohort.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data of NSCLC patients who underwent EBUS-TBNA followed by major pulmonary resection between January 2020 and December 2022.

Expression of p-AKT and p-mTOR in a large series of bronchopulmonary neuroendocrine tumors.

Bronchopulmonary neuroendocrine tumors (BP-NETs) are separated into four subgroups: typical carcinoid tumor (TC), atypical carcinoid tumor (AC), large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) and small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). The signaling pathway involving AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is crucial to the regulation of cell growth, proliferation and survival, and is frequently activated in human cancers. Consequently, mTOR is considered an attractive target for anticancer agents.

Robotic extended thymectomy for early-stage thymomas.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to report a single referral centre experience in robotic extended thymectomy for clinical early-stage thymomas, evaluating its safety, feasibility and efficacy, with special regard to oncological outcomes.

Methods: Between April 2002 and February 2011, we retrospectively selected all those patients who underwent robotic thymectomy for clinical early-stage thymomas. Operative time, morbidity, mortality, duration of hospitalization and overall and disease-free survival were analysed.

Multimodality treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma with or without immunotherapy: does it change anything?

The purpose of this study was to investigate immunological effector cells and angiogenesis in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) patients, who underwent multimodality treatments. Clinical and pathological characteristics of 57 patients, with International Mesothelioma Interest Group stage II-III MPM, who underwent two different multimodality treatments (with and without immunotherapy) between 1999 and 2008 were analyzed. CD8+, CD4+ and Foxp3+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, tryptase and chymase mast cells (MCs), CD34, number of microvessels and vascular endothelial growth factor were determined by immunohistochemistry.