Publications by authors named "Hong Kwan Kim"
Article Synopsis
- This study explores the differences in how patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and seeks to identify key biomarkers that predict these responses.
- Researchers analyzed samples from 33 lung cancer biopsies, focusing on 14 taken before ICI treatment, and found that non-responders had more regulatory and memory T cells, while responders displayed diverse activated CD8+ T cells.
- They identified specific tumor cell activity linked to resistance to ICIs, achieving over 95% accuracy in predicting patient responses by combining immune cell profiles with tumor characteristics, highlighting the importance of the tumor-immune environment in NSCLC treatment.
Article Synopsis
- There is uncertainty about how long to monitor pure ground-glass nodules (pGGNs) found on low dose CT scans, and longer studies are needed to determine optimal follow-up times.
- This retrospective study analyzed 135 pGGNs in 89 patients over a median follow-up of 193 months, revealing that 17% increased in size, with some growing even after 10 years.
- The results indicate that among pGGNs stable for 10 years, 3.9% eventually grew, suggesting that a follow-up period longer than 10 years may be necessary to confirm the stability of these nodules.
Importance: Emerging evidence suggests that wearable devices are feasible for monitoring physical activity among patients with lung cancer. However, the association between wearable devices and improvement in patient recovery after surgery remains underexplored.
Objective: To evaluate the effects of a wearable device intervention on the recovery of physical activity, cardiopulmonary function, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) after lung cancer surgery.
Article Synopsis
- Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) before surgery is the main treatment for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell cancer, with three regimens compared for effectiveness and safety in patients treated between 2016 and 2022.
- Overall survival rates were best with the CROSS regimen, showing 88.1% at one year, while pathologic complete response (pCR) rates were similar across all regimens.
- Grade 3 toxicities varied by regimen, with the CROSS group experiencing the least adverse effects and weight loss, suggesting it may be the preferable option for treatment.
Article Synopsis
- * A total of 680 patients were analyzed, and after balancing confounding factors through propensity score matching, key outcomes like lymph node dissection and survival rates were compared.
- * Results indicated that both techniques yielded similar overall survival rates and oncological outcomes, suggesting they are both viable options for treating mid-to-lower ESCC.
The aim of our retrospective study is to develop and assess an imaging-based model utilizing F-FDG PET parameters for predicting the five-year survival in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients after curative surgery. A total of 361 NSCLC patients who underwent curative surgery were assigned to the training set ( = 253) and the test set ( = 108). The LASSO regression model was used to construct a PET-based risk score for predicting five-year survival.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: There is few evidence regarding the optimal salvage treatment options for loco-reginal recurrence of esophageal cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of salvage radiotherapy (RT) in patients with loco-regional recurrence (LRR) after surgery for esophageal cancer.
Materials And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 147 esophageal cancer patients who received salvage RT for loco-regional recurrence between 1996 and December 2019.
Article Synopsis
- Recent advances in treating resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), particularly the ADAURA trial, highlight the effectiveness of osimertinib for patients at high risk of relapse, necessitating further studies to identify these specific subgroups.
- A study analyzing data from 3,176 NSCLC patients concluded that 14.0% experienced late recurrence, with the EGFR-mutant subgroup being particularly studied for relapse factors.
- Key factors influencing postoperative relapse in patients with EGFR mutations include age, pathologic N and TNM stages, pleural invasion status, and type of surgery, indicating that those with advanced conditions or specific surgical histories are at greater risk.
Objectives: The use of tumor-informed circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) testing in patients with early-stage disease before surgery is limited, mainly owing to restricted tissue access and extended turnaround times. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical value of a tumor-naïve, methylation-based cell-free DNA assay in a large cohort of patients with resected NSCLC.
Method: We analyzed presurgical plasma samples from 895 patients with EGFR and anaplastic lymphoma kinase-wild-type, clinical stage I or II NSCLC.
Purpose: To develop an MRI-based radiomics model to predict high-risk pathologic features for lung adenocarcinoma: micropapillary and solid pattern (MPsol), spread through air space (STAS), and poorly differentiated patterns.
Materials And Methods: As a prospective study, we screened clinical N0 lung cancer patients who were surgical candidates and had undergone both 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography-CT (PET/CT) and chest CT from August 2018 to January 2020. We recruited patients meeting our proposed imaging criteria indicating high-risk, that is, poorer prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma, using CT and FDG PET/CT.
Background/aim: Although the importance of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening is increasingly emphasized and implemented, many lung cancers continue to be incidentally detected during routine medical practices, and data on incidentally detected lung cancer (IDLC) remain scarce. This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of IDLCs by comparing them with screening-detected lung cancers (SDLCs).
Patients And Methods: In this retrospective study, subjects with cT1 (≤3 cm) pulmonary nodules detected on baseline computed tomography (CT), later pathologically confirmed as primary lung cancer in 2015, were included.
Article Synopsis
- This study looked at patients with oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma who couldn't or chose not to have surgery after receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT).
- Of the 715 patients analyzed, 105 (14.7%) didn't undergo surgery, with reasons including disease progression, functional decline, or patient refusal.
- Results showed that patients who refused surgery had significantly worse recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates compared to those who had surgery, especially if they had a partial or stable response to treatment, although overall survival (OS) rates were not significantly different between the two groups.
Article Synopsis
- Occult lymph node metastasis (OLNM) is common in patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), despite following established diagnostic guidelines.
- The study evaluated the risk of OLNM based on specific radiologic characteristics of primary tumors as seen on CT scans in a retrospective analysis of 2042 NSCLC patients.
- Findings revealed that certain tumor features, such as endobronchial location, significantly increased the risk of OLNM, while others, like heterogeneous ground-glass opacity, had a lower risk, helping clinicians better determine the need for invasive nodal staging.
Article Synopsis
- The study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of adjuvant pembrolizumab in patients with stage IIIA/N2 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who underwent prior neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy and complete surgical resection.
- Findings showed a median disease-free survival (DFS) of 22.4 months and a 5-year DFS rate of 29%, indicating pembrolizumab may help control the disease long-term for some patients.
- Despite some patients experiencing tumor recurrence, no new safety concerns were observed, suggesting that pembrolizumab could be a viable treatment option post-surgery for specific NSCLC patients.
Purpose: Lung cancer survivors have more psychosocial problems, including depression and anxiety disorder, than other cancer survivors. Lung cancer-specific symptoms, such as cough, dyspnea, or pain in chest, might increase FCR among survivors. We aimed to evaluate the association between lung cancer-specific symptoms and FCR among recurrence-free non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) survivors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDifferentiation Between Invasive Adenocarcinoma and Focal Interstitial Fibrosis among Persistent Pulmonary Part-solid Nodules: With Emphasis on the CT Morphologic Analysis.
J Thorac Imaging
November 2024
Article Synopsis
- - The study aimed to identify imaging features that can distinguish focal interstitial fibrosis (FIF) from invasive adenocarcinoma (ADC) in patients with persistent part-solid nodules (PSNs), which are often misdiagnosed and treated surgically.
- - Researchers analyzed CT scans from 44 patients with confirmed FIF and 88 patients with ADC, using morphologic characteristics and various statistical analyses to find key predictive imaging features.
- - Significant findings included that preserved peritumoral vascular margin, preserved secondary pulmonary lobule margin, and a specific coronal to axial ratio (less than 1.005) can help differentiate FIF from ADC, with an impressive predictive accuracy represented by an AUC of 0.881. *
Background: We aimed to identify the impact of muscle mass on locally advanced oesophageal cancer (LAEC) in elderly patients receiving neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy (NACRT).
Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 345 patients diagnosed with LAEC who underwent NACRT and surgery. Physical variables, including height, weight, skeletal muscle mass, and laboratory values, were obtained before and after NACRT.
Article Synopsis
- The study examines the risks of complications following major lung surgery after neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiation therapy in patients with stage IIIA-N2 non-small cell lung cancer.
- It reveals that patients over 70 years old, those with low body mass index, and those undergoing pneumonectomy face significantly higher rates of morbidity and mortality post-surgery.
- The findings suggest that alternative treatments may be more suitable for high-risk patients, particularly the elderly or those with poorer lung function, rather than pursuing surgical options.
Article Synopsis
- Recent research highlights the importance of novel transcriptional factor-based molecular subtypes in predicting outcomes for small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients through in-depth analysis of multi-omics data combined with immunohistochemistry (IHC).
- The study involved a comprehensive examination of data from 427 SCLC patients, focusing on mutation profiles, gene expression, and inflammation signatures, revealing distinct molecular subtypes and their clinical outcomes.
- Findings showed significant differences in survival rates among subtypes, with the ASCL1 subtype exhibiting the most favorable overall survival, and inflamed tumors being more responsive to immunotherapy compared to non-inflamed tumors.
Article Synopsis
- * Out of 810 patients, 19.6% experienced PPCs, with those in the low lung function groups having a significantly higher relative risk (RR) for developing these complications compared to those with better lung function.
- * The findings suggest that poor preoperative lung function increases the risk of PPCs after esophagectomy, especially when both FEV and DLco levels are low.
Role of invasive mediastinal nodal staging in survival outcomes of patients with non-small cell lung cancer and without radiologic lymph node metastasis: a retrospective cohort study.
EClinicalMedicine
March 2024
Article Synopsis
- Lung cancer diagnostic guidelines recommend invasive mediastinal nodal staging (IMNS), but its effectiveness on survival in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients without lymph node metastasis (rN0) remains unclear.
- A study compared long-term survival rates between NSCLC patients who underwent IMNS and those who did not, using data from the Samsung Medical Centre from 2008 to 2016.
- Results showed no significant survival difference; both groups had similar 5-year overall survival rates (73.9% for IMNS vs. 71.7% for non-IMNS) and recurrence-free survival rates, despite a 7.2% incidence of unexpected metastasis in the IMNS group.