Clinical impact of the tumor immune microenvironment in completely resected stage IIIA(N2) non-small cell lung cancer based on an immunoscore approach.

Background: Completely resected stage IIIA(N2) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) comprises a heterogeneous population according to discrepancies in survival prognosis. Accumulating evidence suggests that tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are clinically significant, despite a lack of consensus regarding the immunoscore (IS) in NSCLC. Here, we determined the prognostic value of the immune microenvironment as an IS in a uniform cohort of patients with completely resected stage IIIA(N2) NSCLC.

Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy Plus Etoposide/Cisplatin for Patients With Limited Advanced Unresectable Thymic Epithelial Tumors: A Prospective Phase 2 Study.

Purpose: This prospective phase 2 study evaluated the efficacy and safety of intensity modulated radiation therapy plus etoposide/cisplatin (EP) for patients with unresectable thymic epithelial tumors (TETs).

Methods And Materials: Patients with limited advanced unresectable TETs whose lesions could be encompassed within radiation fields were enrolled in this study. Two cycles of EP (75 mg/m etoposide and 25 mg/m cisplatin on days 1-3 and days 29-31) were administered concurrently with radiation therapy, followed by 2 cycles after radiation therapy.

Prognostic value of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes for patients with completely resected stage IIIA(N2) non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: The patient prognosis after complete resection for pathologic stage IIIA(N2) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains a significant concern. The clinical relevance of the host immune response to NSCLC has yet to be established. We aimed to investigate the prognostic value of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in a uniform cohort of patients with completely resected stage IIIA(N2) NSCLC.

High EGFR and low p-Akt expression is associated with better outcome after nimotuzumab-containing treatment in esophageal cancer patients: preliminary clinical result and testable hypothesis.

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is widely overexpressed in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and it results is associated with a poor prognosis. Identifying the subgroup of ESCC patients who are sensitive to EGFR-targeted therapy is a key point to facilitate its medical use.We retrospectively analyzed 32 ESCC patients treated with the combination of nimotuzumab (h-R3) and radiotherapy (RT) or chemoradiotherapy (CRT).

The emerging outcome of postoperative radiotherapy for stage IIIA(N2) non-small cell lung cancer patients: based on the three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy technique and institutional standard clinical target volume.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT), administered using three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) and our institutional standard clinical target volume (CTV) delineation, for completely resected stage IIIA(N2) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: From 2005 to 2012, consecutive patients with pT1-3N2 NSCLC who were treated with PORT employing our institutional CTV delineation after complete surgery or who underwent complete resection in our hospital but without PORT were identified. We excluded patients who had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy or radiation therapy (RT).

Patterns of failure after radical surgery among patients with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: implications for the clinical target volume design of postoperative radiotherapy.

Background: This study evaluated patterns of treatment failure (especially locoregional failure; LRF) after radical esophagectomy and proposes a clinical target volume (CTV) for postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) among patients with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

Methods: All patients who were followed up in our center after radical esophagectomy between 2007 and 2011 were retrospectively enrolled. The patterns of first discovered failure were assessed, and LRFs (including anastomotic and regional lymph node recurrences) were evaluated to determine whether our proposed PORT CTV encompassed these areas.

Patterns of local-regional failure in completely resected stage IIIA(N2) non-small cell lung cancer cases: implications for postoperative radiation therapy clinical target volume design.

Purpose: To analyze patterns of local-regional failure (LRF) for completely resected stage IIIA(N2) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated in our hospital and to propose a clinical target volume (CTV) for postoperative radiation therapy (PORT) in these patients.

Methods And Materials: From 2005 to 2011, consecutive patients with pT1-3N2 NSCLC who underwent complete resection in our hospital but who did not receive PORT were identified. The patterns of first LRF were assessed and evaluated as to whether these areas would be encompassed by our proposed PORT CTV.

[Expression of Six1 and Six4 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and their correlation with clinical prognosis].

Objective: Six1 and Six4 are expressed in several tumors, and associated with tumor progress and poor prognosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of Six1 and Six4 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), and to evaluate their correlation with the clinicopathological factors and prognosis.

Methods: Tissue microarray technology and immunohistochemical method (EnVision) were used to detect the expression of Six1 and Six4 in the tumor tissues and corresponding adjacent normal epithelium of esophagus from 292 ESCC patients.

Safety and efficacy of nimotuzumab in combination with radiotherapy for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

Background: We investigated nimotuzumab (h-R3), a humanized monoclonal antibody against epidermal growth factor receptor, when combined with irradiation or chemoradiation for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the esophagus. The aim of this study was to evaluate its safety and efficacy.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 66 patients with esophageal SCC treated with a combination of h-R3 and radiation or chemoradiation between December 2008 and September 2011 at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center.

CYP19A1 gene polymorphisms and risk of lung cancer.

Objectives: To investigate the association between polymorphisms of aromatase (encoded by the CYP19A1 gene and a key enzyme in biosynthesis of oestradiol) and the risk of lung cancer, and whether there were differences stratified by sex and smoking history.

Methods: This case-control study included consecutive, nonselected and pathologically-confirmed lung cancer patients and healthy people. Participants were classed as nonsmokers or smokers by questionnaire.

Polymorphisms in the ERCC5 gene and risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in Eastern Chinese populations.

Background: Excision repair cross complementing group 5 (ERCC5 or XPG) plays an important role in regulating DNA excision repair; its functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) may alter DNA repair capacity and thus contribute to cancer risk.

Methodology/principal Findings: In a hospital-based case-control study of 1115 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cases and 1117 cancer-free controls, we genotyped three potentially functional SNPs of ERCC5 (SNPs, rs2296147T>C, rs2094258C>T and rs873601G>A) and estimated crude and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for their associations with risk of ESCC using unconditional logistic regression models. We also calculated false-positive report probabilities (FPRPs) for significant findings.

[Value of cytopathology in endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration].

Objective: To evaluate the role of cytopathology in endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) for lung tumor diagnosis and staging.

Methods: Two-hundred consecutive cases of lung tumor with EBUS-TBNA performed during the period from April, 2009 to September, 2010 in Shanghai Cancer Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The cytologic diagnoses were categorized as non-diagnostic, negative, suspicious and malignant.

[Evaluation of the value of EBUS-TBNA in diagnosis of mediastinal lesions].

Objective: To evaluate the value of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) in diagnosis of mediastinal lesions and to discuss its optimal indication.

Methods: One hundred and twenty three patients with mediastinal lesions who underwent EBUS-TBNA were included in this study. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of EBUS-TBNA in diagnosis of mediastinal lesions were analyzed according to the final diagnosis and evaluate its value and the optimal indication.

[Characteristics and risk factors of lymph node metastases in esophageal carcinoma].

Objective: To investigate the status of lymph node metastases (LNM) of esophageal carcinoma and to identify the risk factors.

Methods: Clinical data of 308 patients who underwent esophagectomy with three-field lymphadenectomy during January 2006 and December 2010 were reviewed. Characteristics of LNM were studied.

Association between gene polymorphism of CD14-159 (C/T) and allergic asthma.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the possible association between the CD14-159 polymorphism and adult asthma in the Chinese population. A total of 188 asthmatic patients and 60 healthy adults were enrolled in the present study, and the CD14-159 polymorphism was genotyped using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR‑RFLP) analysis. The results showed that the frequencies of CC, CT and TT genotypes were 12.

Establishment and characterization of primary lung cancer cell lines from Chinese population.

Aim: To establish and characterize primary lung cancer cell lines from Chinese population.

Methods: Lung cancer specimens or pleural effusions were collected from Chinese lung cancer patients and cultured in vitro with ACL4 medium (for non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC)) or HITES medium (for small cell lung carcinomas (SCLC)) supplemented with 5% FBS. All cell lines were maintained in culture for more than 25 passages.

Discrepancy of biologic behavior influenced by bone marrow derived cells in lung cancer.

Disseminated cancer cells may initially require local nutrients and growth factors to thrive and survive in bone marrow. However, data on the influence of bone marrow derived cells (BMDC, also called bone stromal cells in some publications) on lung cancer cells is largely unexplored. This study explored the mechanism of how bone stromal factors contribute to the bone tropism in lung cancer.

Multicenter analysis of lung cancer patients younger than 45 years in Shanghai.

Background: The treatment, prognosis, and outcomes of young lung cancer patients have not been fully explored. In addition, there is a pressing need to characterize this subgroup of patients, because there is a trend of increasing incidence in younger patients from Europe and Japan.

Methods: Consecutive, nonselected young patients (<45 years old) with pathologically diagnosed lung cancer treated at 175 qualified hospitals in the greater Shanghai area were included in this analysis.

[CT-guided hookwire localization of small solitary pulmonary nodules in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery].

Objective: Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) provides a minimally invasive approach to resect small solitary pulmonary nodules (SSPN). The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of preoperative CT-guided hookwire localization for SSPN in VATS.

Methods: Hookwire was used to localize 26 SSPN under CT guidance in 24 patients (14 male, 10 female, age range 21-61 years, mean 52.

Synergistic inhibitory activity of zoledronate and paclitaxel on bone metastasis in nude mice.

Zoledronic acid (Zometa, ZOL) and cytotoxic chemotherapy agents have been reported to have synergistic antitumor activities. However, there is limited data on the effects of combination therapies on the development of bone metastasis in animal models of lung cancer. The purpose of this study was to establish a human lung adenocarcinoma cell line with high bone metastatic potential in an immunodeficient mouse model and to evaluate the synergistic inhibitory activity of zoledronate and paclitaxel (P) on bone metastasis in nude mice.

Comparative proteomic analysis of non-small-cell lung cancer and normal controls using serum label-free quantitative shotgun technology.

The aim of this study was to distinguish non-small-cell lung cancer from normal controls and explore the new potential biomarkers of lung cancer by serum proteomics technology. Label-free quantitative liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (1D-LC/MS/MS) analysis was performed on eight non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) serum samples and eight normal controls. The proteomic data we obtained was analyzed by normalized, randomly paired t test and integrated bioinformatic methods, including hierarchical clustering analysis, principal-component analysis, and support vector machine.

[Serum proteomic patterns may assist the diagnosis of solitary pulmonary nodules].

Objective: To screen relatively specific biomarkers in serum from lung adenocarcinoma patients by surface-enhanced laser desorption and ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOFMS), and to investigate the clinical value of SELDI-TOF-MS in differentiation of benign from malignant solitary pulmonary nodules (SPN).

Methods: Serum samples from 71 lung adenocarcinoma patients and 71 healthy volunteers with matched gender, age and history of smoking were analyzed using WCX2 ProteinChip to screen potential biomarkers. 28 patients received surgical treatment among total 53 patients with SPN.