Postoperative short-term prognostic factors in patients with primary lung cancer who undergo lobectomy: a study on the prognostic predictors of early postoperative recurrence.

Background: Lung cancer is among the most common types of cancers worldwide, and surgery can be a curative treatment option for this condition. However, some patients experience postoperative recurrence. Hence, predicting early postoperative recurrence to improve patient prognosis is important.

True Benefits of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in the Treatment of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma in Japan.

In February 2004, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was the first to approve the combination of cisplatin (CDDP) and pemetrexed (PEM) as standard first-line chemotherapy for untreated, unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). However, after that approval, no progress was made in the standard first-line treatment of MPM for almost 15 years. Positive results from a phase 3 study (Mesothelioma Avastin Cisplatin Pemetrexed Study: MAPS) verifying the effect of bevacizumab, an anti-angiogenesis agent added to CDDP/PEM for unresectable MPM, were published in The Lancet in December 2015; however, this did not lead to approval by national drug regulatory agencies.

Analysis of postoperative weight loss associated with prognosis after lobectomy for lung cancer.

Objectives: Weight assessment is an easy-to-understand method of health checkup. The present study investigated the association between weight loss (WL) after lung cancer (LC) surgery and short-mid-term prognosis.

Methods: The data of patients who underwent radical lobectomy for primary LC were assessed between December 2017 and June 2021.

Effect of resected lung lobe on the prediction of postoperative pulmonary function.

Objectives: This study examined whether a resected lung lobe can affect the accuracy of postoperative forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) predicted using the subsegment counting method and three-dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) volumetry.

Methods: Overall, 125 patients who underwent lobectomy through video-assisted thoracic surgery were enrolled in this retrospective study. Pulmonary function tests were performed preoperatively and postoperatively at 3 months.

Esophagobronchial fistula successfully managed with a self-expandable metallic stent followed by fixation using a silicon Y stent.

Esophagobronchial fistula (EBF) formation is a severe complication of advanced thoracic malignancies, that affects the prognosis and quality of life of patients. This study reports the case of an 80-year-old man with advanced esophageal cancer, complicated by EBF formation in the left main bronchus proximal to the carina following chemoradiation therapy. A fully covered stent was placed in the left main bronchus but was dislocated on the oral side.

A successful case of complete surgical resection via left upper and right lower lobectomy for bilateral lung metastases of a perivascular epithelioid cell tumor in the colon: a case report.

Background: Perivascular epithelioid cell tumors (PEComas) are rare mesenchymal neoplasms with malignant potential. No effective treatment other than surgical resection has been established for lung metastases of PEComas. We describe a patient who underwent complete surgical resection via bilateral lobectomy involving a two-step procedure for lung metastases 8 years after undergoing radical surgery for a colonic PEComa.

Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Nivolumab in Japanese Patients With Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma: 3-Year Results of the MERIT Study.

Introduction: We examined the long-term efficacy and safety of nivolumab, a human monoclonal antibody that inhibits interactions between the programmed cell death protein-1 receptor and its ligands (programmed death-ligand 1 and programmed death-ligand 2), in Japanese patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM).

Methods: Japanese patients with previously treated MPM (one or two regimens) were enrolled in a single-arm, phase 2 study and received nivolumab intravenously 240 mg every 2 weeks until progressive disease or unacceptable toxicity. The primary end point was the centrally assessed objective response rate.

Pulmonary Artery Intimal Sarcoma Diagnosed Preoperatively by Endovascular Biopsy and Treated via Right Pneumonectomy and Pulmonary Arterioplasty.

. Intimal sarcoma is a very rare tumor arising within the intima of the pulmonary artery. Preoperative diagnosis of pulmonary artery sarcoma is difficult, and the tumor is sometimes misdiagnosed as pulmonary thromboembolism.

Impaired TRIM16-Mediated Lysophagy in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Pathogenesis.

Insufficient autophagic degradation has been implicated in accelerated cellular senescence during chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) pathogenesis. Aging-linked and cigarette smoke (CS)-induced functional deterioration of lysosomes may be associated with impaired autophagy. Lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP) is indicative of damaged lysosomes.

Measured versus predicted postoperative pulmonary function at repeated times up to 1 year after lobectomy.

Objectives: Postoperative pulmonary function is difficult to predict accurately, because it changes from the time of the operation and is also affected by various factors. The objective of this study was to assess the accuracy of predicted postoperative forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) at different postoperative times after lobectomy.

Methods: This retrospective study enrolled 104 patients who underwent lobectomy by video-assisted thoracic surgery.

Optimal timing of video-assisted thoracic surgery for acute pyothorax: a retrospective study.

Objective: Although the value of video-assisted thoracic surgery for acute pyothorax is becoming widely recognized, the optimal timing of surgery has not been established. Therefore, we aimed to determine the optimal timing of video-assisted thoracic surgery in acute pyothorax.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 38 consecutive video-assisted thoracic surgeries performed for acute pyothorax between January 2013 and December 2017 at our institution.

Localized pleural metastasis without other organ metastases after nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma.

We present a case of a 69-year-old man who had localized pleural metastasis without other organ metastases after nephrectomy for right renal cell carcinoma (RCC). He complained of respiratory symptoms for more than two years after the operation and was confirmed to have right pleural effusion and multiple pleural masses on computed tomography (CT). There were no abnormal findings in the other organs, but the pleural mass gradually increased in size on CT.

Catamenial pneumothorax with partial liver herniation due to diaphragmatic laceration: a case report and literature review.

Background: Catamenial pneumothorax is generally uncommon, with an incidence of less than 3-6% in women with spontaneous pneumothorax. As few cases of catamenial pneumothorax with diaphragmatic defect and liver herniation have been reported, this case report may be useful for understanding the cause and treatment. This case highlights the importance of the approach for liver hernia in patients with catamenial pneumothorax and endometriosis.

Complete pleural symphysis is predicted by a blunted costophrenic angle.

Objective: Complete pleural symphysis from adhesions is a troublesome intraoperative finding. A blunted costophrenic angle without pleural effusion is an indicator of prior pleural disease; however, the diagnostic accuracy of blunted costophrenic angles for complete pleural symphysis is unclear. This study to determine whether complete pleural symphysis is predicted by the finding of a blunted costophrenic angle.

Chaperone-Mediated Autophagy Suppresses Apoptosis via Regulation of the Unfolded Protein Response during Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Pathogenesis.

Cigarette smoke (CS) induces accumulation of misfolded proteins with concomitantly enhanced unfolded protein response (UPR). Increased apoptosis linked to UPR has been demonstrated in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) pathogenesis. Chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) is a type of selective autophagy for lysosomal degradation of proteins with the KFERQ peptide motif.

Definitive lobectomy without frozen section analysis is a treatment option for large or deep nodules selected carefully with clinical diagnosis of malignancy.

Background: Tissue harvesting for patients with a lung nodule is sometimes unsuitable due to the size and location of the nodule. In such cases, it is unclear whether it is acceptable to proceed to definitive lobectomy without intraoperative frozen section analysis.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent definitive lobectomy or wedge resection for frozen section analysis at our institution between 2014 and 2018.

Risk factors and cancer recurrence associated with postoperative complications after thoracoscopic lobectomy for clinical stage I non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Minimally invasive thoracoscopic lobectomy is the recommended surgery for clinical stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The purpose of this study was to identify the risk factors, including sarcopenia, for postoperative complications in patients undergoing a complete single-lobe thoracoscopic lobectomy for clinical stage I NSCLC, as well as the impact of complications on disease-free survival.

Methods: We retrospectively investigated 173 patients with pathologically-diagnosed NSCLC who underwent curative thoracoscopic lobectomies between April 2013 and March 2018.

Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Nivolumab: Results of a ulticenter, Opn-label, Single-am, Japanese Phase II study in Malgnant Pleural Mesohelioma (MERIT).

Purpose: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare and aggressive malignancy with poor prognosis. Patients with MPM who do not respond to standard first-line chemotherapy have limited treatment options. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of nivolumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, for the treatment of advanced or metastatic MPM.

[Rapidly Developing Pulmonary Cyst Complicated by Pneumothorax Occurred in the Early Post-operative Period after Lung Segmentectomy].

The patient was a 74-year-old man who had undergone surgery for rectal cancer 9 years before and had developed left lung metastasis(S3)3 years and 4 months prior to admission. He had received video assisted left lung wedge resection. He presented with a growing nodular lesion close to the remaining left lung margin and elevated serum carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA)levels, and underwent open extended segmentectomy.

[Elastofibroma Dorci;Report of a Case].

Elastofibroma is a relatively rare tumor that occurs commonly at the apex of scapula in elderly people. We report a case of elastofibroma of a female in her seventies. She visited our hospital with complaints of painful mass in her back, which was increasing in size.

[Pulmonary Cryptcoccosis Mimicking Malignant Tumor;Report of a Case].

Pulmonary cryptococcosis is difficult to distinguish from lung cancer clinically, and is often diagnosed by surgery. A 72-year-old woman, who underwent distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy for pancreatic carcinoma. Four months after surgery, a tumor shadow was detected in the left lung as a groundglass nodule (GGN)of 12 mm in diameter, which was found to change to 15 mm with increased density by the computed tomography(CT)scan after 2 months.

Autophagy induction by SIRT6 through attenuation of insulin-like growth factor signaling is involved in the regulation of human bronchial epithelial cell senescence.

Cigarette smoke (CS)-induced cellular senescence has been implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and SIRT6, a histone deacetylase, antagonizes this senescence, presumably through the attenuation of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-Akt signaling. Autophagy controls cellular senescence by eliminating damaged cellular components and is negatively regulated by IGF-Akt signaling through the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). SIRT1, a representative sirtuin family, has been demonstrated to activate autophagy, but a role for SIRT6 in autophagy activation has not been shown.

Apoptosis inhibitor of macrophage (AIM) expression in alveolar macrophages in COPD.

Background: Marked accumulation of alveolar macrophages (AM) conferred by apoptosis resistance has been implicated in pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Apoptosis inhibitor of macrophage (AIM), has been shown to be produced by mature tissue macrophages and AIM demonstrates anti-apoptotic property against multiple apoptosis-inducing stimuli. Accordingly, we attempt to determine if AIM is expressed in AM and whether AIM is involved in the regulation of apoptosis in the setting of cigarette smoke extract (CSE) exposure.

Insufficient autophagy in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Autophagy, a process that helps maintain homeostatic balance between the synthesis, degradation, and recycling of organelles and proteins to meet metabolic demands, plays an important regulatory role in cellular senescence and differentiation. Here we examine the regulatory role of autophagy in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) pathogenesis. We test the hypothesis that epithelial cell senescence and myofibroblast differentiation are consequences of insufficient autophagy.

Insufficient autophagy promotes bronchial epithelial cell senescence in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Tobacco smoke-induced accelerated cell senescence has been implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Cell senescence is accompanied by the accumulation of damaged cellular components suggesting that in COPD, inhibition of autophagy may contribute to cell senescence. Here we look at whether autophagy contributes to cigarette smoke extract (CSE) - induced cell senescence of primary human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC), and further evaluate p62 and ubiquitinated protein levels in lung homogenates from COPD patients.