Swallowing disorders, pneumonia and respiratory tract infectious disease in the elderly.

Swallowing disorders (or dysphagia) are common in the elderly and their prevalence is often underestimated. They may result in serious complications including dehydration, malnutrition, airway obstruction, aspiration pneumonia (infectious process) or pneumonitis (chemical injury caused by the inhalation of sterile gastric contents). Moreover the repercussions of dysphagia are not only physical but also emotional and social, leading to depression, altered quality of life, and social isolation.

Phase II study of sunitinib in patients with non-small cell lung cancer and irradiated brain metastases.

Introduction: Brain metastases frequently cause significant morbidity in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Sunitinib is a multitargeted inhibitor of tyrosine kinase receptors, including vascular endothelial growth factor receptors and platelet-derived growth factor receptors, which has single-agent antitumor activity in refractory NSCLC. This phase II study evaluated the antitumor activity and safety of sunitinib in patients with pretreated NSCLC and irradiated brain metastases.

Epidemiology and treatment costs of bone metastases from lung cancer: a French prospective, observational, multicenter study (GFPC 0601).

Introduction: The aim of this prospective, observational, multicenter study was to examine the epidemiology and management costs of bone metastatic disease (BMD) in patients with lung cancer.

Methods: The analysis included all patients with BMD from lung cancer diagnosed between May 2006 and May 2007 in 40 centers. We analyzed their management and the direct costs of BMD from the health care provider's perspective, using a Markov model.

Feasibility of assessing [(18)F]FDG lung metabolism with late dynamic PET imaging.

Purpose: The aim of this work was to non-invasively establish the feasibility of assessing 2-deoxy-2-[(18)F]fluoro-D-glucose ((18)F-FDG) lung metabolism with the use of a late dynamic positron emission tomograpy (PET) acquisition, i.e., beyond 2 h after injection.

Mast cell adhesion to bronchial smooth muscle in asthma specifically depends on CD51 and CD44 variant 6.

Background: Mast cells infiltrate the bronchial smooth muscle (BSM) in asthmatic patients, but the mechanism of mast cell adhesion is still unknown. The adhesion molecules CD44 (i.e.