A case of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor effectiveness in epidermal growth factor receptor mutation-positive squamous cell carcinoma.

A 71-year-old non-smoker woman was admitted to our hospital because of left front chest pain. A computed tomography scan showed a large mass of >7.0 cm in the lower left part of the lung and multiple organ metastases in the liver, brain, bone, and left adrenal gland.

Absolute Increase in the Number and Proportion of Peripheral Eosinophils Associated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Treatment in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Patients.

Background/aim: To clarify the clinical significance of the absolute increase in the number and proportion of peripheral eosinophils associated with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICPI) treatment in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

Patients And Methods: We performed a retrospective study, by reviewing the medical charts of 191 patients who were treated with ICPI monotherapy and 80 patients treated with the combination of ICPI and chemotherapy during the period from February 2016 and April 2021.

Results: In patients treated with ICPI monotherapy, there was a significant difference in time to treatment failure (TTF) between the two groups divided by eosinophils ≥ or <10%.

Association between time to treatment failure and peripheral eosinophils in patients with non-small cell lung cancer treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Introduction: There is an unmet clinical need to identify biomarkers predicting which patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) would benefit from treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPIs). Objectives: The purpose of this study was to draw a detailed time to treatment failure (TTF) curve with information on the changes in peripheral eosinophil expression during ICPI treatment for NSCLC, and to clarify whether eosinophil expression can predict prolonged TTF. Patients and methods: In 259 patients with NSCLC treated with ICPI therapy, peripheral eosinophil counts and percentages at the time of each ICPI administration were evaluated from the beginning of ICPI treatment up to TTF.

Transcriptome genetic differences between responders and non-responders before bronchial thermoplasty.

Background: Bronchial thermoplasty (BT) is an endoscopic therapy used for the treatment of refractory asthma. Some predictive factors, for example the number of activations and severity of disease at baseline, have been used to determine the effectiveness of BT in treating patients with asthma. The aim of the present study was to comprehensively analyze RNA samples from the airway bronchial tissues of patients with severe asthma treated by BT, and to characterize each patient as a BT responder or non-responder.

Effect of Shakuyakukanzoto on Chemotherapy-Induced Hiccups in Patients with Lung Cancer.

Objective: Shakuyakukanzoto, one of the traditional herbal medicines commonly used in North-East Asian countries, is known to be effective for muscle cramps. This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the effect of shakuyakukanzoto on chemotherapy-induced metoclopramide-uncontrolled hiccups.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively investigated the medical records of all the consecutive patients with lung cancer who were prescribed with shakuyakukanzoto (Tsumura Co.

Nrf2 Regulates Granuloma Formation and Macrophage Activation during Mycobacterium avium Infection via Mediating Nramp1 and HO-1 Expressions.

Nrf2 is a redox-sensitive transcription factor that is thought to be important in protection against intracellular pathogens. To determine the protective role of Nrf2 in the host defense against complex (MAC), both wild-type and -deficient mice were intranasally infected with MAC bacteria. -deficient mice were highly susceptible to MAC bacteria compared with wild-type mice.

Rinsing of oropharynx and storage place of respiratory medicine inhaler: A cross-sectional audit.

Background: In patients with bronchial asthma and those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), inhalation therapy and rinsing of the mouth and the oropharynx by gargling ("RMOG") after inhalation are recommended. We performed a cross-sectional audit aimed at investigating (a) the proportion of patients performing "RMOG" after inhalation and (b) storage place of patients' inhaler.

Methods: Patients with bronchial asthma and those with COPD were asked by medical aids at outpatient visits whether they did "RMOG every time," "RMOG sometimes," or "no RMOG" after inhalation, and where they stored their inhaler.

A Long-Term Control of Intramedullary Thoracic Spinal Cord Metastasis from Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Radiotherapy with systemic corticosteroid therapy has been used to treat intramedullary spinal cord metastasis (ISCM), but recovery of function and long-term survival of these patients has been rarely observed. We report herein a small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patient with recurrent thoracic ISCM, who was successfully treated with radiotherapy and systemic corticosteroid therapy. A 70-year-old man, who was diagnosed as having SCLC seven months previously, developed thoracic ISCM.

Paradoxical response to osimertinib therapy in a patient with T790M-mutated lung adenocarcinoma.

A 'paradoxical response' to cancer treatment is a term used to describe the emergence of unexpected new lesions and the progression of existing lesions, despite appropriate and effective therapy. 'Pseudo-progression' is a phenomenon in which lymphocytes activated by an immune checkpoint inhibitor accumulate in a tumor and expand its shadow, mimicking enlargement of the primary lesion or development of a new metastatic lesion. Patients receiving cancer chemotherapy may respond differently to treatment, by exhibiting a response, deterioration, or the simultaneous occurrence of both.

[Three cases of long-term control of non-small-cell lung cancer via S-1 monotherapy in elderly patients].

We report 3 cases of long-term control achieved via S-1 monotherapy in elderly patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. In case 1, a 75-year-old man clinically diagnosed with stage IIIA lung adenocarcinoma received S-1 as fourthline chemotherapy. PR was achieved, and PFS was 8 months.

Emergency coronary artery bypass grafting for left main shock syndrome.

Objective: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) complicated by cardiogenic shock and left main coronary artery disease (left main shock syndrome) shows high morbidity, and whether early coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) improves the clinical outcome remains unclear.

Methods: Six consecutive patients (mean age, 61.6 years) with MI complicated by left main shock syndrome underwent emergency CABG.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with apical aneurysm: left ventricular reconstruction and cryoablation for ventricular tachycardia.

This is a case study of a 58-year-old patient with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, mid-ventricular obstruction, and apical aneurysm who had an episode of syncope due to ventricular tachycardia. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging revealed asymmetrical left ventricular hypertrophy with mid-ventricular obstruction and an apical aneurysm. His coronary angiography was normal, and his ventricular tachycardia was induced by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy without ischemia.

Serial changes in epicardial electrograms during and after a coronary artery occlusion.

Objective: Suddenly occurring ventricular tachyarrhythmias are a complication during off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) surgery, potentially leading to the need for conversion to on-pump surgery. We examined serial changes in the spatial dispersion of the electrical activity and refractoriness at the myocardial ischemia border zones during and after coronary occlusion.

Methods: Unipolar epicardial electrograms were continuously recorded from the anterior left ventricle at the border zones during and after a 10-min occlusion of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery in 22 patients undergoing OPCAB.

Strategies for treatment of acute aortic dissection with involvement of sinus of valsalva.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the outcome of 3 different surgical approaches for treatment of acute aortic dissection type A (AADA) with involvement of the aortic root.

Materials And Methods: From November 2002 to December 2007, 51 consecutive patients underwent emergency surgical intervention for AADA with involvement of the aortic root. Supracommissural replacement (SCR) of the ascending aorta was applied to 33 of these patients; 12 cases received a Bentall procedure, and 6 underwent partial remodeling technique in which as much as the dissected aortic root was resected, leaving a rim of 10 mm above the noncoronary annulus and 5 mm above the coronary ostia and commissures.