Argentine consensus recommendations for lung cancer screening programmes: a RAND/UCLA-modified Delphi study.

Background: Lung cancer (LC) screening improves LC survival; the best screening method in terms of improving survival is low-dose CT (LDCT), outpacing chest X-ray and sputum cytology.

Methods: A consensus of experts in Argentina was carried out to review the literature and generate recommendations for LC screening programmes. A mixed-method study was used with three phases: (1) review of the literature; (2) modified Delphi consensus panel; and (3) development of the recommendations.

[Pulmonary infiltrates in cancer patients].

Pulmonary infiltrates remain as a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge in cancer patients. In order to evaluate the etiology, diagnostic methods used, Intensive Care Unit admission and in-hospital mortality, we conducted an observational, prospective study which included all patients with cancer and recent pulmonary infiltrates admitted to the Instituto Alexander Fleming between August 2003 and March 2006. Diagnostic methods were categorized in sequential steps of complexity: 1st step: radiological pattern of the pulmonary infiltrates, blood and sputum cultures, serological tests and empirical treatment response; 2nd step: bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), non bronchoscopic tracheal aspirate and mini-BAL; 3rd step: pulmonary or extrapulmonary biopsies.

Influence of apoptosis and cell cycle regulator proteins on chemotherapy response and survival in stage IIIA/IIIB NSCLC patients.

Background: Prognosis for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients is very poor. Prediction of the response to treatment in individual patients may be possible using molecular biological alterations such as clinical biomarkers. We investigated the predictive value of apoptosis and cell cycle regulator proteins for neoadjuvant chemotherapy response in stage IIIA/IIIB NSCLC patients.

[Bronchodilators in acute asthma: metered dose inhalers or wet nebulizations?].

of patients attending our Emergency Department (ED) with acute asthma has increased from 3300 patient/year in 1980 to 15364 in 2003. Short acting bronchodilators (albuterol/ipratropium) administered in wet nebulizations, a resource consuming procedure, were our main initial treatment in 2002. To improve treatment goals, we switched the method of bronchodilator delivery to metered dose inhalers (MDI) in 2003.

Risk of recurrence in patients with surgically resected stage I non-small cell lung carcinoma: histopathologic and immunohistochemical analysis.

Study Objective: To evaluate the prognostic value of histopathologic variables and molecular markers in a group of patients with stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Setting: "María Ferrer" Hospital of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Patients: Pathologic stage IA and IB patients who underwent radical surgery and nonneoadjuvant therapy for NSCLC between January 1985 and December 1999.