Assessment of Intraoperative Microbiological Culture in Patients with Empyema: Comparison with Preoperative Microbiological Culture.

Purpose: Assessing microbiological culture results is essential in the diagnosis of empyema and appropriate antibiotic selection; however, the guidelines for the management of empyema do not mention assessing microbiological culture intraoperatively. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that intraoperative microbiological culture may improve the management of empyema.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 47 patients who underwent surgery for stage II/III empyema from January 2011 to May 2019.

Preoperative prognostic nutritional index level is associated with tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte status in patients with surgically resected lung squamous cell carcinoma.

Objectives: The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) is an indicator of systemic immune-nutritional condition and is a well-known prognostic biomarker in lung cancer patients. Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) is a specific histological feature of cancers, influencing an individual's immunological tumour responses. However, whether PNI can reflect lung cancer patients' prognosis through local immunity such as TIL is unclear.

Hypomethylation Is Associated With Malignant Traits and Cell Proliferation in Lung Adenocarcinoma.

Background/aim: Long interspersed nuclear element-1 (LINE-1) methylation status is a marker for global DNA methylation. However, the relationship between LINE-1 methylation and the biology of lung adenocarcinoma remains unclear. Here, we aimed to examine the role of LINE-1 in lung cancer.

Onychomycosis of the Middle Finger of a Japanese Judo Athlete due to Trichophyton tonsurans.

We present a 17-year-old Japanese male high school student, who had applied steroid ointment for atopic dermatitis, with fingernail onychomycosis due to Trichophyton tonsurans. He was found positive for T. tonsurans infection based on hairbrush culture performed due to an epidemic of T.

Prognostic Significance of Expression of the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition-Related Factor Brachyury in Intrathoracic Lymphatic Spread of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Background: Brachyury is a transcriptional regulator that plays important roles in epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) during development and has been reported to be essential for mesoderm formation in the early human embryo. We investigated Brachyury protein expression in hilar and mediastinal metastatic lymph nodes of non-small cell lung cancer patients and the prognostic significance of Brachyury expression at metastatic sites.

Methods: Expression of Brachyury in 115 surgically resected primary lung cancer and corresponding metastatic lymph node samples was evaluated by immunohistochemical staining.

Prognostic Impact of EGFR Driver Mutations on Postoperative Disease Recurrence in Lung Adenocarcinoma.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) sensitizing mutations in patients with lung adenocarcinoma who underwent complete surgical resection.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of 164 patients with lung adenocarcinoma who underwent surgery from 2003 to 2010. Seventy-four patients harbored EGFR mutations; two with exon 18 mutations, 27 with exon 19 mutations, and 45 with exon 21 mutations.

PD-L1 Is Upregulated by Simultaneous Amplification of the PD-L1 and JAK2 Genes in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Objectives: The programmed death ligand 1(PD-L1)/programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) pathway is one of the most important checkpoint pathways for mediating tumor-induced immune suppression through T-cell exhaustion. Recently, targeted therapies using monoclonal antibodies against components of this pathway have been shown to reduce tumor burden in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the prognostic significance of PD-L1 expression is controversial and the precise mechanisms of PD-L1 gene activation in lung cancer have yet to be clarified.

Surgical results of resectable small cell lung cancer.

Background: The standard of care for patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is chemotherapy and radiotherapy, even for patients with limited disease. To define the role of surgical resection in patients with limited SCLC, we investigated the outcomes of patients diagnosed with limited-stage disease (LD) SCLC.

Methods: The records of 57 LD SCLC patients who underwent surgical resection from April 1974 to March 2012 were retrospectively analyzed.

Solitary pulmonary metastasis from malignant melanoma of the bulbar conjunctiva presenting as a pulmonary ground glass nodule: Report of a case.

We herein report a case of solitary pulmonary metastasis from malignant melanoma that presented as a pulmonary ground glass nodule. A 57-year-old man who had undergone resection of a malignant melanoma of the right bulbar conjunctiva at the age of 51 was referred to our hospital for management of ground glass opacity in his left lung. Because radiological examination suggested the nodule was an adenocarcinoma in situ, computed tomography (CT) follow-up was planned.

Underlying Problems in Surgical Treatment of cT1-2N1 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

 Obtaining an accurate preoperative diagnosis of N1 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a major difficulty. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the pathological and long-term outcomes of NSCLC patients clinically staged with N1 disease, to aid in the search for better treatment strategies.  We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of 1,180 consecutive patients with NSCLC who underwent surgery for curative intent from 1991 to 2011 in our department.

Associations between driver gene mutations and cytotoxic chemosensitivity in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Background/aim: Patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations or echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4-anaplastic lymphoma kinase (EML4-ALK) rearrangement often have a better prognosis when they are treated with specific inhibitors than when treated with cytotoxic agents. However, the associations between gene mutations and cytotoxic chemosensitivity are still unclear. The objective of the present study was to identify which clinicopathological factors, including genetic mutations, influence chemosensitivity, determined using the succinate dehydrogenase inhibition (SDI) test in patients with NSCLC.

Applicability of Pulmonary Lobectomy in Treating Metastatic Lung Tumors.

Purpose: Although metastases to the lung from other organs are usually removed with limited lung resections (e.g., wedge resections or segmentectomies), pulmonary lobectomies are often required to remove whole pulmonary tumors.

Clinical Significance of Detecting Somatic Gene Mutations in Surgically Resected Adenosquamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lung in Japanese Patients.

Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) and echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4-anaplastic lymphoma kinase (EML4-ALK) inhibitors are effective and useful agents for treating patients who harbor EGFR-TKI-sensitive mutations or EML4-ALK rearrangement. Therefore, the importance of determining the presence of these somatic mutations when treating lung adenocarcinomas is widely accepted. However, genetic mutations are rarely evaluated in patients with adenosquamous cell carcinoma of the lung, a relatively infrequent histologic type of lung cancer, because of limited knowledge and the unclear value of assessing these oncogenic mutations in these patients.

Successful resection of a giant mediastinal non-seminomatous germ cell tumor showing fluorodeoxyglucose accumulation after neoadjuvant chemotherapy: report of a case.

A 32-year-old man presented with a mediastinal non-seminomatous germ cell tumor showing fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) accumulation (maximum standardized uptake value = 22.21) and extremely elevated blood alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level (9203.0 ng/ml).

A rare case of a bronchial anomaly running in the hilar region from the right lower lobe to the middle lobe.

A 77-year-old male was referred to our department due to lung cancer (cT3N0M0) of the right lower lobe. During right lower lobectomy, a thin duct structure was recognized in the hilar region between the middle and lower lobes that was identified to be a supernumerary bronchus upon a review of the preoperative chest CT images. Although bronchial anomalies are rare, it is important to carefully view preoperative images for any such anomalies in order to more safely perform surgery.

[Case of pulmonary inflammatory pseudotumor with cysts].

We herein report a case involving a 58-year-old female patient with multiple cystic lesions in the right lobe of the lung. The lesions were revealed on chest computed tomography in 2002 and followed up. Transbronchial lung biopsy showed no malignancy in June 2013.

The prognostic impact of the amount of tobacco smoking in non-small cell lung cancer--differences between adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.

Backgrounds: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the level of tobacco smoking and the clinicopathological features of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, individually for adenocarcinoma (Ad) and squamous cell carcinoma (Sq).

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of 1825 consecutive lung cancer patients who underwent surgery in our department. Among these, the data sets of 750 Ad patients and 364 Sq patients who received lobectomy or more extensive resection were available.

Prognostic and therapeutic implications of aromatase expression in lung adenocarcinomas with EGFR mutations.

Purpose: Lung adenocarcinomas among never-smokers are more common in females than in males. This implies that gender-dependent hormones promote smoking unrelated lung adenocarcinoma. We therefore investigated mRNA expression of aromatase, an intrinsic estrogen synthetase, in lung adenocarcinoma and assessed its correlation to clinicopathologic factors, including EGFR mutations and postsurgical prognosis.

[A case of surgical treatment for a bilateral pneumothorax that occurred in a patient with severe asbestosis and advanced emphysema].

A 71-year-old male with a history of asbestosis was referred to our department for the treatment of a bilateral pneumothorax. His pulmonary function was severely impaired because of asbestosis and emphysema. Chest computed tomography showed severe emphysema with bilateral multiple bullae.

[Case of adenocarcinoma in situ accompanied by an intrapulmonary lymph node with a sarcoid-like reaction].

A 65-year-old male underwent a chest CT scan, which revealed an 8 mm nodule on the wall of a bulla in the left lower lobe of the lung, and was thus suspected to be lung cancer. Pulmonary wedge resection of the left lower lobe by means of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery was thus performed. A specimen of the lung revealed the presence of intrapulmonary lymph node on the wall of a bulla.

[A case of liver metastasis from gastric cancer responding completely to S-1/docetaxel chemotherapy].

A 68-year-old man was introduced to our hospital with right lower abdominal pain. Endoscopic examination and abdominal CT revealed gastric cancer with liver metastasis. We started chemotherapy using S-1(120 mg/body/day), orally administered for 2 weeks followed by a 2-week rest period, and docetaxel(35 mg/m(2)), administered intravenously on day 1 and 15 as 1 course.