Hypofractionated stereotactic body radiation therapy for elderly patients with stage IIB-IV nonsmall cell lung cancer who are ineligible for or refuse other treatment modalities.

Objective: In elderly patients with stage IIB-IV nonsmall cell lung cancer who cannot tolerate chemotherapy, conventionally fractionated radiotherapy is the treatment of choice. We present our experience with hypofractionated stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in the treatment of this patient population.

Methods: Thirty-three patients with a median age of 80 years treated with fractionated SBRT were retrospectively analyzed.

Robotic stereotactic body radiation therapy for elderly medically inoperable early-stage non-small cell lung cancer.

Introduction: Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is being increasingly applied in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) because of its high local efficacy. This study aims to examine survival outcomes in elderly patients with inoperable stage I NSCLC treated with SBRT.

Methods: A total of 31 patients with single lesions treated with fractionated SBRT from 2008 to 2011 were retrospectively analyzed.

Dose escalation with stereotactic body radiation therapy boost for locally advanced non small cell lung cancer.

Introduction: Low survival outcomes have been reported for the treatment of locally advanced non small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC) with the standard of care treatment of concurrent chemoradiation (cCRT). We present our experience of dose escalation using stereotactic body radiosurgery (SBRT) following conventional cCRT for patients with LA-NSCLC.

Methods: Sixteen patients with a median age of 67.

Surgical management of endobronchial inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors.

Background: Endobronchial myofibroblastic tumors are neoplasms composed of clonal populations of smooth muscle cells and a variable lymphocytic inflammatory component. They represent a challenge with respect to diagnosis, classification, and surgical resection due to their infrequent occurrence.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed our experience with patients who had myofibroblastic tumors in the major airways over a 15-year period, in order to understand the incidence, natural biology, treatment, and long-term outcome of individuals with this type of neoplasm in an endobronchial location.

Bronchial thermoplasty: a novel therapeutic approach to severe asthma.

Bronchial thermoplasty is a non-drug procedure for severe persistent asthma that delivers thermal energy to the airway wall in a precisely controlled manner to reduce excessive airway smooth muscle. Reducing airway smooth muscle decreases the ability of the airways to constrict, thereby reducing the frequency of asthma attacks. Bronchial thermoplasty is delivered by the Alair System and is performed in three outpatient procedure visits, each scheduled approximately three weeks apart.

Multi-center evaluation of the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) assay and HbsAg confirmatory assay for the family of Access immunoassay systems.

Background: Accurate detection of Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg) is an important aid in the diagnosis of patients infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV). A multi-center study was conducted to characterize the performance of the HBsAg assay on the family of Access immunoassay systems from Beckman Coulter.

Methods: The Access HBsAg assay was characterized in a multi-center study and compared to the Abbott AxSYM* and PRISM* HBsAg assays.

Effectiveness and safety of bronchial thermoplasty in the treatment of severe asthma: a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled clinical trial.

Rationale: Bronchial thermoplasty (BT) is a bronchoscopic procedure in which controlled thermal energy is applied to the airway wall to decrease smooth muscle.

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of BT versus a sham procedure in subjects with severe asthma who remain symptomatic despite treatment with high-dose inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting beta(2)-agonists.

Methods: A total of 288 adult subjects (Intent-to-Treat [ITT]) randomized to BT or sham control underwent three bronchoscopy procedures.

Nonneoplastic lesions of the tracheobronchial wall: radiologic findings with bronchoscopic correlation.

Nonneoplastic diseases of the central airways are uncommon but can be categorized as either focal or diffuse, although there is some overlap. Focal diseases include postintubation stenosis, postinfectious stenosis, posttransplantation stenosis, and various systemic diseases that may involve the airways and lead to focal stenosis (eg, Crohn disease, sarcoidosis, Behçet syndrome). Diffuse diseases of the central airways include Wegener granulomatosis, relapsing polychondritis, tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica, amyloidosis, papillomatosis, and rhinoscleroma.