Efficacy of pemetrexed in a patient with brain metastases during crizotinib treatment.

ALK-positive patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) exhibit more aggressive clinical progression, a poorer response to chemotherapy, and less favorable survival outcomes in comparison with ALK-negative patients. Although crizotinib has proved effective in treating ALK-positive NSCLC, this agent penetrates the blood-brain barrier poorly and CNS progression is common. As pemetrexed, a multitargeted antifolate chemotherapeutic agent, has demonstrated benefit in the control of brain metastases in patients with NSCLC, treatment with pemetrexed was added to crizotinib in a young male patient with ALK-positive NSCLC who had developed brain metastases during crizotinib therapy.

Mosquito coil exposure associated with small cell lung cancer: A report of three cases.

Mosquito coils, which are commonly used as residential insecticides in Asia, contain different concentrations of octachlorodipropyl ether (S-2) as a synergist or an active ingredient. As bis(chloromethyl) ether (BCME) is an extremely potent lung carcinogen that can be produced by the thermolytic degradation of S-2, contact with mosquito coils is likely to expose individuals to a certain level of BCME, and therefore increase the risk of lung cancer. However, the significance of exposure is uncertain, as clinical and epidemiological studies concerning mosquito coil users and workers are lacking.

Etoposide-cisplatin alternating with vinorelbine-cisplatin versus etoposide-cisplatin alone in patients with extensive disease combined with small cell lung cancer.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of alternating etoposide-cisplatin and vinorelbine-cisplatin (EP-NP) compared with an etoposide-cisplatin (EP) regimen for advanced combined small cell carcinomas.

Materials And Methods: Histologically confirmed combined small cell carcinoma patients who met the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned (1:1) into either the EP-NP setting (group A) or the EP setting (group B). The primary endpoint was progression-free survival in patients who received at least one dose of treatment.

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition markers to predict response of Berberine in suppressing lung cancer invasion and metastasis.

Background: The effects of berberine on the metastatic potential of lung cancer cells and its underlying mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. Since epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition is a cellular process associated with cancer invasion and metastasis, we attempted to investigate the potential use of berberine as an inhibitor of TGF-β1-induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal in A549 cells.

Methods: In this study, we investigated the anticancer activity of berberine against A549 cells in vitro and in vivo.

Combined inhibition of insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor enhances the effects of gefitinib in a human non-small cell lung cancer resistant cell line.

The type I insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-1R) signaling pathway is an important growth-regulatory pathway that is prevalent in a variety of cancer types, including human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). To observe the combined effects of gefitinib and AG1024-induced IGF-1R inhibition on the growth of NSCLC, PC9/G cells, a NSCLC cell line with acquired resistance to gefitinib, were treated with AG1024 and gefitinib, alone or in combination. The proliferative activity of PC9/G cells upon different treatments was assessed by CCK-8, and the median-effects principle was used to assess the effect of the combined treatment.