Impact of select actionable genomic alterations on efficacy of neoadjuvant immunotherapy in resectable non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have improved survival outcomes compared with chemotherapy in resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the impact of actionable genomic alterations (AGAs) on the efficacy of neoadjuvant ICIs remains unclear. We report the influence of AGAs on treatment failure (TF) in patients with resectable NSCLC treated with neoadjuvant ICIs.

Two Cases of Group A Streptococcus-Induced Right Empyema: Rare Occurrences in Adult Medicine.

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) empyema, though rare in adults, poses serious clinical challenges. We present two cases of GAS-induced right empyema in immunocompetent patients. Case 1 involved a 45-year-old female Chinese healthcare worker with persistent pleural effusion despite antibiotic therapy.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and the Omicron Variant of COVID-19 Prognosis: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background And Aim: This retrospective cohort study aimed to investigate the association between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the prognosis of COVID-19 patients infected with the Omicron variant. The primary objective was to determine if COVID-19 patients with COPD had higher mortality rates compared to those without COPD. Secondary objectives included assessing the risk of respiratory failure, hospital stay length, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and oxygen requirements in COPD patients with COVID-19.

Phase II study of talazoparib in advanced cancers with BRCA1/2, DNA repair, and PTEN alterations.

Cancer cells with BRCA1/2 deficiencies are sensitive to poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. We evaluated the efficacy of talazoparib in DNA-Damage Repair (DDR)-altered patients. In this phase II trial, patients were enrolled onto one of four cohorts based on molecular alterations: (1) somatic BRCA1/2, (2) other homologous recombination repair pathway, (3) PTEN and (4) germline BRCA1/2.

A Single Lung Abscess Caused by Panton-Valentine Leukocidin-Producing Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

This case report presents a rare occurrence of a single lung abscess caused by Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-producing methicillin-resistant (MRSA) in a 38-year-old immunocompetent man. The patient, of Southeast Asian origin, presented with symptoms of fever, chest pain, cough, and shortness of breath following a recent flu-like illness. Imaging indicated a cavitary lung lesion in the left lower lobe, suggestive of a lung abscess.

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease following SARS-CoV-2 infection: A rare disease with increased incidence during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Kikuchi-Fujimoto Disease (KFD), also known as Kikuchi disease or Kikuchi histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis, is a rare and self-limiting condition characterized by cervical lymphadenopathy and fever, primarily affecting young Asian adults. The aetiology of KFD remains unknown, although various infectious agents have been suggested as potential triggers. With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, cases of post-COVID-19 KFD and post-COVID-19 vaccine KFD have been reported.

Targeting IL-11R/EZH2 signaling axis as a therapeutic strategy for osteosarcoma lung metastases.

Lung metastases are the primary cause of death for osteosarcoma (OS) patients. We recently validated interleukin-11 receptor α (IL-11Rα) as a molecular target for the inhibition of OS lung metastases. Since there is no clinically approved antibody against this receptor, we sought to identify downstream targets that mediate the effects of IL-11Rα signaling.

Direct Clinical Pharmacist-Patient Telephone Follow-Up: A Focus on GI Medical Oncology Symptom Management.

Purpose: GI medical oncology care presents unique medication challenges. Here, we captured our clinical pharmacy specialists' (CPSs) involvement in patients with GI cancers starting cycle 1 of a new treatment.

Methods: Our quality initiative was performed in three stages (preintervention, intervention, and postintervention).

Dose-response association of diabetic kidney disease with routine clinical parameters in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a leading cause of end-stage kidney disease and is associated with high mortality rates. The influence of routine clinical parameters on DKD onset in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remains uncertain.

Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched multiple databases, including PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library, for studies published from each database inception until January 11, 2024.

Full-Length Endoscopic Adhesiolysis of the Achilles Tendon and Triceps Surae.

Fibrous adhesions of the Achilles tendon and triceps surae can cause calf and heel cord pain, limited ankle dorsiflexion, and even equinus deformity. The purpose of this technical note is to describe the technical details of full-length endoscopic adhesiolysis of the Achilles tendon and triceps surae. This minimally invasive approach has the advantage of allowing immediate postoperative vigorous mobilization and stretching exercise, which can reduce formation of peritendinous adhesions as compared to immobilization.

Adolescent and young adult Hodgkin lymphoma patients at risk for subcutaneous fat gain during early cancer treatment: a brief report.

Computed tomography scans were assessed for subcutaneous fat area and density at thoracic vertebra 4 in 65 adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with Hodgkin lymphoma. Subcutaneous fat was quantified over 3 timepoints; (1) baseline, (2) end of initial anthracycline treatment (EOT) and (3) 1 year. Fat area increased at EOT (62.

Pathologic Processing of Lung Cancer Resection Specimens After Neoadjuvant Therapy.

Neoadjuvant treatment of non-small cell lung cancer challenges the traditional processing of pathology specimens. Induction therapy before resection allows evaluation of the efficacy of neoadjuvant agents at the time of surgery. Many clinical trials use pathologic tumor response, measured as major pathologic response (MPR, ≤10% residual viable tumor [RVT]) or complete pathologic response (CPR, 0% RVT) as a surrogate of clinical efficacy.

Surgical outcomes after chemotherapy plus nivolumab and chemotherapy plus nivolumab and ipilimumab in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Objective: Chemotherapy plus nivolumab is the standard of care neoadjuvant treatment for patients with resectable stage IB to IIIA non-small cell lung cancer. The influence of dual checkpoint blockade with chemotherapy on surgical outcomes remains unknown. We aimed to determine operative complexity and perioperative outcomes associated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and nivolumab with or without ipilimumab.

A case series of three patients with histologically proven post COVID-19 organizing pneumonia.

Organizing pneumonia, a form of interstitial lung disease, may occur in patients who have recovered from COVID-19. In this article, we report three cases of post COVID-19 organizing pneumonia, proven histologically with transbronchial biopsies showing fibroblastic plugs in the alveolar spaces. Our patients received a range of 86-166 days of continuous corticosteroid therapy and all of them made excellent recovery.

Endoscopic Curettage and Bone Grafting of Enchondroma of Proximal Phalanx of Finger.

An enchondroma is a benign tumor in the medullary cavity of bone, which is composed of mature hyaline cartilage. It has a predilection for the ulnar-sided tubular bones of the hand and occurs most commonly in the proximal phalanx, and less commonly in the middle phalanx and metacarpals, and rarely in the distal phalanx. The treatment options for enchondromas include conservative regular follow-up or surgery.

Use of high flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy for patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 outside intensive care setting.

Background: In early 2022, there was a sudden surge of patients infected by the Omicron variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Hong Kong (HK), resulting in 9,163 deaths as of 29 May 2022. Many of the local population had not been vaccinated before this wave. The number of patients who developed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) related respiratory failure outnumbered the capacity of intensive care unit (ICU) beds.

Deep Into the Domain Shift: Transfer Learning Through Dependence Regularization.

Classical domain adaptation methods acquire transferability by regularizing the overall distributional discrepancies between features in the source domain (labeled) and features in the target domain (unlabeled). They often do not differentiate whether the domain differences come from the marginals or the dependence structures. In many business and financial applications, the labeling function usually has different sensitivities to the changes in the marginals versus changes in the dependence structures.

Clinical outcomes of immunotherapy continued beyond radiographic disease progression in older adult patients with advanced non‑small cell lung cancer.

Immunotherapy is an effective and generally well-tolerated treatment strategy for older adult patients (aged ≥70 years) with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Unfortunately, most patients who receive immunotherapy eventually exhibit disease progression during treatment. The present study reports on a subset of older adult patients with advanced NSCLC who could effectively continue immunotherapy beyond radiographic disease progression due to perceived clinical benefit.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus nivolumab with or without ipilimumab in operable non-small cell lung cancer: the phase 2 platform NEOSTAR trial.

Neoadjuvant ipilimumab + nivolumab (Ipi+Nivo) and nivolumab + chemotherapy (Nivo+CT) induce greater pathologic response rates than CT alone in patients with operable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The impact of adding ipilimumab to neoadjuvant Nivo+CT is unknown. Here we report the results and correlates of two arms of the phase 2 platform NEOSTAR trial testing neoadjuvant Nivo+CT and Ipi+Nivo+CT with major pathologic response (MPR) as the primary endpoint.

A rare case of melioidosis presenting as pericarditis and pneumonia in a patient with poorly controlled diabetes mellitus.

Melioidosis is a rare but often fatal tropical infection caused by gram-negative bacteria . It most commonly manifests as pneumonia and rarely presents as pericarditis. Melioidosis can be difficult to diagnose because of its diverse clinical manifestation and close resemblance to bacteria of the genus .