Routine conventional leak test is not required for robotic major pulmonary resections.

Objective: We retrospectively evaluated whether or not conventional air leak testing is necessary in robotic major pulmonary resections.

Methods: After excluding patients who received 2 or more days of postoperative drainage for chylothorax or excessive pleural effusion, 578 patients who underwent major pulmonary resection using minimally invasive approaches between February 2019 and November 2023 at our institution were included in this study. All patients were divided into two groups including thoracoscopic (n = 471) and robotic (n = 107) approaches.

A robotic fissureless right upper lobectomy using a posterior approach.

The fissureless technique in a lobectomy is considered useful to avoid postoperative prolonged air leak when a fissure is fused because it is not dissected. In particular, this technique has been used most frequently in right upper lobectomies because the dense fissure was most frequently found between the right upper and middle lobes. We believe that the surgical steps in this technique should be modified depending on the surgical approach, although the concept that the hilar structures, including the pulmonary vessels and bronchi, are each transected prior to division of a dense fissure is the same.

A robotic left S6 and S1/2c segmentectomy using the lung-inverted approach.

In pulmonary segmentectomy, the dominant pulmonary arteries are traditionally divided at the fissure. However, this approach sometimes leads to inadvertent injury to the pulmonary artery and prolonged air leak when the fissure is fused. To overcome these problems, by taking advantage of the good visualization provided by robotic surgery, we have adopted the lung-inverted approach without fissure dissection for segmentectomy.

Feasibility and Safety of Uniportal Thoracoscopic Segmentectomy Using a Unidirectional Dissection Approach without Dissecting a Fissure.

: Few original articles describe the perioperative outcomes of uniportal thoracoscopic segmentectomy using a unidirectional dissection approach. In this retrospective study, we evaluated the feasibility and safety of this procedure. : This study included 119 patients who underwent uniportal thoracoscopic segmentectomy in our department between February 2019 and December 2022.

Uniportal thoracoscopic mediastinal lymphadenectomy using appropriate surgical steps.

Background: Although lymphadenectomies play an important role in the surgical treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the quality of lymphadenectomies via a uniportal approach has only been evaluated in a few studies. We describe the surgical steps for a mediastinal lymphadenectomy via uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (uVATS) and compare the quality of mediastinal lymphadenectomies using uVATS versus multiportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (mVATS).

Methods: Between April 2017 and January 2023, we analyzed data from 304 patients with NSCLC who underwent (bi-)lobectomy with nodal dissection (ND)2a-1 or greater lymphadenectomy via uVATS or mVATS.

Robotic upper division segmentectomy of the left upper lobe without turning the lung.

The fissureless technique in lobectomy or the unidirectional dissection technique in segmentectomy is considered useful to avoid a postoperative prolonged air leak if a fissure is fused because it is not dissected. Another advantage of this technique is that it does not require repeated rotation of the lung to obtain a good surgical view, which may result in a shorter operating time. We believe that this technique is suitable for a robotic approach because we sometimes find it difficult to rotate the lung parenchyma in the limited rigid thoracic cavity when using the robotic approach.

Two cases of lower lobe segmentectomy (left and right) using the lung-inverted approach in a robotic operation.

In pulmonary segmentectomy, the dominant pulmonary arteries are conventionally divided at the fissure. However, this approach sometimes leads to accidental injury of the pulmonary artery and prolonged air leaks when the fissure is fused. To overcome these problems, we have adopted the lung-inverted approach without dissection of a fissure for segmentectomy, taking advantage of the good view provided by robotic surgery.

Comparison of the Learning Curve between Uniportal and Robotic Thoracoscopic Approaches in Pulmonary Segmentectomy during the Implementation Period Using Cumulative Sum Analysis.

Background: The aim of this retrospective study was to compare the learning curve and perioperative outcomes between the two approaches uVATS and RATS during their implementation periods.

Methods: The uVATS group included 77 consecutive uVATS segmentectomies performed by HI between February 2019 and June 2022, while the RATS group included 30 between July 2022 and September 2023. The patient characteristics, perioperative outcomes, and learning curves were compared between the two groups.

A robotic left S1+2c subsegmentectomy using preoperative simulation.

Although there are reports describing segmentectomy by a robotic approach, reports describing robotic subsegmentectomy are rare because this procedure requires more precise anatomical knowledge and exposure of subsegmental pulmonary vessels and bronchi. However, the robotic approach has several advantages, including a high-definition 3-dimensional surgical view and precise motion without tremor, which may allow us to perform the subsegmentectomy more easily. Considering these advantages of the robotic approach, we successfully performed a robotic left S1+2c segmentectomy with a short console time and a good postoperative course.

A robotic anterior (S3) segmentectomy of the left upper lobe.

A robotic approach might be more suitable for pulmonary segmentectomy than the conventional thoracoscopic approach, because the high-definition 3-dimensional surgical view and precise motion without tremor allow us to dissect pulmonary vessels and bronchi to the periphery. However, among several types of segmentectomies, the anterior segmentectomy (S3) of the left upper lobe may be one of the most difficult to achieve in the robotic approach because the dissected hilar region tends to be obstructed by the lung parenchyma in the "looking-up" view. We offer two technical tips to achieve robotic left S3 segmentectomy.

Completion Pneumonectomy for Second Primary/Primary Lung Cancer and Local Recurrence Lung Cancer.

Background: Completion pneumonectomy (CP) for second primary/primary lung cancer (SPLC) and local recurrence lung cancer (LRLC) is still controversial. Although several case series on such a practice exist, the oncological benefit is under debate. The purpose of this study was to review available literatures on CP for SPLC and LRLC and evaluate postoperative and long-term outcomes.

Inhibition of Cell-surface Molecular GPR87 With GPR87-suppressing Adenoviral Vector Disturb Tumor Proliferation in Lung Cancer Cells.

Background/aim: GPR87 is a member of the cell surface molecular G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) family and suggested to contribute to the viability of human tumor cells. Its tumor-specific expression and cell surface location make it a potential molecule for targeted therapy. In the present study, we aimed to examine the effect of silencing GPR87 expression and explore the possibility of establishing gene therapy against GPR87-overexpressing lung cancer.

Solid predominant subtype in lung adenocarcinoma is related to poor prognosis after surgical resection: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Recent studies have indicated that solid predominant (SP) subtype of lung adenocarcinoma (LADC) may be associated with early recurrence and worse prognosis. Hence, a systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to evaluate the association between LADC subtype and survival.

Methods: The MEDLINE, SCOPUS, Web of Science and Cochrane Libraries were reviewed for eligible studies in December 2017.

[Surgical Resection of T4 Category Lung Cancer].

Surgery still remains the main stream in the multimodality treatment for locally advanced lung cancer. On the other hand, more than 50% of non-small cell lung cancer are excluded for surgical indications, especially T4 category of lung cancer. In this study, we showed 5 year overall survival rate of both 50 clinical T4 cases and 30 pathological T4 cases are 35.

Tumor Spread Through Air Spaces Is an Independent Predictor of Recurrence-free Survival in Patients With Resected Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Tumor spread through air spaces (STAS) is a newly recognized pattern of invasion in lung adenocarcinoma. However, clinical significance of STAS has not yet been characterized in lung squamous cell carcinoma. In this study, we investigated whether STAS could determine clinical outcome in Japanese patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma.

Customized Adjuvant Chemotherapy Based on Biomarker Examination May Improve Survival of Patients Completely Resected for Non-small-cell Lung Cancer.

Aim: Adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy is recommended for patients with completely resected stage II (N1) or III (N2) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the optimal chemotherapy regimen is difficult to predict for individual patients. Our previous prospective study on individualized treatment according to biomarker status, such as excision repair cross-complementing 1 (ERCC1), class III β-tubulin (tubulin), thymidylate synthase (TYMS) and ribonucleotide reductase M1 (RRM1), achieved encouraging results in patients with advanced NSCLC.

Spontaneous torsion of the right upper lung lobe: a case report.

Background: Pulmonary torsion is usually caused by thoracic surgery or trauma. Spontaneous pulmonary torsion caused by tumor and pleural effusion is very rare.

Case Presentation: A 76-year-old Asian male with a chronic cough and suspected lung or pleural tumor presented with sudden dyspnea.

Potent effect of adenoviral vector expressing short hairpin RNA targeting ribonucleotide reductase large subunit M1 on cell viability and chemotherapeutic sensitivity to gemcitabine in non-small cell lung cancer cells.

Background: Ribonucleotide reductase large subunit (RRM1) is the main enzyme responsible for synthesis of the deoxyribonucleotides used during DNA synthesis. It is also a cellular target for gemcitabine (GEM). Overexpression of RRM1 is reportedly associated with resistance to GEM and the poor prognosis for many types of malignant tumours.

Overexpression of G protein-coupled receptor 87 correlates with poorer tumor differentiation and higher tumor proliferation in non-small-cell lung cancer.

G protein-coupled receptor 87 (GPR87) is a newly deorphanized member of the transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor family. Recently, GPR87 was suggested to contribute to the viability of human tumor cells and overexpression of GPR87 mRNA was detected in a number of malignant tumors, including lung cancer. We performed a retrospective study of GPR87 expression in association with clinical characteristics and biological markers in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).