Hybrid minimally invasive Ivor Lewis esophagectomy after neoadjuvant chemoradiation yields excellent long-term survival outcomes with minimal morbidity.

Background: There is a clear survival benefit to neoadjuvant chemoradiation prior to esophagectomy for patients with stages II-III esophageal cancer. A minimally invasive esophagectomy approach may decrease morbidity but is more challenging in a previously radiated field and therefore patients who undergo neoadjuvant chemoradiation may experience more postoperative complications.

Methods: A prospective database of all esophageal cancer patients who underwent attempted hybrid minimally invasive Ivor Lewis esophagectomy was maintained between 2006 and 2015.

Prognostic molecular assay might improve identification of patients at risk for recurrence in early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer.

Introduction: Adjuvant chemotherapy improves survival for some patients with NSCLC and is recommended in NCCN guidelines for stage Ib to IIa patients with certain "high-risk" characteristics. An internationally validated, 14-gene expression assay has been shown to better stratify mortality risk in nonsquamous NSCLC than either conventional staging or these high risk clinicopathologic features.

Patients And Methods: A blinded chart review of 52 patients with prospective molecular risk stratification using the 14-gene test compared recurrence outcomes with a mean follow-up of 15.

Giant tumors of the chest: preoperative embolization and resection.

Giant tumors of the chest are rare. These tumors comprise a spectrum of disease from benign lesions to highly aggressive malignant tumors with cells of origin in the pleura, pulmonary parenchyma, blood vessels, thymus, and connective tissues. We report four cases of giant tumors of the thorax treated with preoperative arterial embolization followed by complete surgical resection.

Positron emission tomography with f18-fluorodeoxyglucose in the staging and preoperative evaluation of malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of positron emission tomography with F18-fluorodeoxyglucose in the preoperative evaluation and staging of malignant mesothelioma in patients who were candidates for aggressive combined modality therapy.

Methods: Eighteen consecutive patients with biopsy-proven malignant mesothelioma underwent positron emission tomographic scanning. The results of positron emission tomographic imaging were compared with results obtained by computed tomography, mediastinoscopy, thoracoscopy, and pathologic examination of surgical specimens.