Surgical management of thymic tumors: a narrative review with focus on robotic-assisted surgery.

Background And Objective: Thymic epithelial tumors, including thymomas and thymic carcinomas, represent the most common mediastinal tumors and account for up to 50% of all anterior mediastinal tumors. For early stages of these thymic tumors, complete resection of the entire thymus is the recommended treatment. The transition from open surgery to video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and recently to robotic-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS) has fundamentally altered the treatment of thymic tumors.

Randomized Controlled Trial of Thresholds for Drain Removal After Anatomic Lung Resection.

Background: The criteria for chest drain removal after lung resections remain vague and rely on personal experience instead of evidence. Because pleural fluid resorption is proportional to body weight, a weight-related approach seems reasonable. We examined the feasibility of a weight-adjusted fluid output threshold concerning postoperative respiratory complications and the occurrence of symptomatic pleural effusion after chest drain removal.

Targeting lactate dehydrogenase B-dependent mitochondrial metabolism affects tumor initiating cells and inhibits tumorigenesis of non-small cell lung cancer by inducing mtDNA damage.

Once considered a waste product of anaerobic cellular metabolism, lactate has been identified as a critical regulator of tumorigenesis, maintenance, and progression. The putative primary function of lactate dehydrogenase B (LDHB) is to catalyze the conversion of lactate to pyruvate; however, its role in regulating metabolism during tumorigenesis is largely unknown. To determine whether LDHB plays a pivotal role in tumorigenesis, we performed 2D and 3D in vitro experiments, utilized a conventional xenograft tumor model, and developed a novel genetically engineered mouse model (GEMM) of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), in which we combined an LDHB deletion allele with an inducible model of lung adenocarcinoma driven by the concomitant loss of p53 (also known as Trp53) and expression of oncogenic KRAS (G12D) (KP).

Thoracic Outlet Syndrome: Single Center Experience on Robotic Assisted First Rib Resection and Literature Review.

Background: Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) is a pathological condition caused by a narrowing between the clavicle and first rib leading to a compression of the neurovascular bundle to the upper extremity. The incidence of TOS is probably nowadays underestimated because the diagnosis could be very challenging without a thorough clinical examination along with appropriate clinical testing. Beside traditional supra-, infraclavicular or transaxillary approaches, the robotic assisted first rib resection has been gaining importance in the last few years.

Robotic vs. Transsternal Thymectomy: A Single Center Experience over 10 Years.

Introduction: Thymomas are the most common tumors of the mediastinum. Traditionally, thymectomies have been performed through a transsternal (TS) approach. With the development of robot-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS), a promising, minimally invasive, alternative surgical technique for performing a thymectomy has been developed.

Stage III N2 non-small cell lung cancer treatment: decision-making among surgeons and radiation oncologists.

Background: Stage III N2 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a very heterogeneous disease associated with a poor prognosis. A number of therapeutic options are available for patients with Stage III N2 NSCLC, including surgery [with neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy (CTx)/neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT)] or CRT potentially followed by adjuvant immunotherapy. We have no clear evidence demonstrating a significant survival benefit for either of these approaches, the selection between treatments is not always straightforward and can come down to physician and patient preference.