Publications by authors named "Kohei Somekawa"
Article Synopsis
- Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have improved cancer treatment outcomes but identifying effective biomarkers for patient selection is essential due to current markers like PD-L1 showing limited predictive accuracy.
- * This study analyzes blood-based factors, like neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and red cell distribution width (RDW), to predict benefits from ICI therapy using data from a Clinical Data Warehouse (CDW) and electronic medical records (EMR).
- * Results showed a significant correlation between high RDW and the likelihood of receiving fewer doses of the ICI pembrolizumab, highlighting its potential as a prognostic marker for predicting treatment efficacy.
Article Synopsis
- - Biologics, like benralizumab, are key treatments for severe asthma, but there's limited data on their effects in elderly patients (70+ years old).
- - A study analyzed 51 patients (22 elderly, 29 non-elderly) treated with benralizumab, showing significant reductions in asthma exacerbations for both groups during treatment.
- - The medication was well-tolerated in elderly patients, with a similar rate of discontinuation due to side effects compared to non-elderly patients.
Article Synopsis
- - The study investigates the link between HLA genotypes and the severity of COVID-19 in 209 Japanese patients, identifying how specific alleles correlate with severe respiratory cases over different epidemic periods (pre-Omicron and Omicron).
- - Significant associations were found, particularly with alleles HLA-DQA1*01:03 and HLA-DQB1*06:01, showing higher frequencies in severe COVID-19 cases compared to non-severe cases, primarily during the pre-Omicron period.
- - There was a strong correlation between the two significant alleles (r = 0.91), indicating they are often inherited together, and their presence in the severe group highlights potential genetic factors influencing COVID-19
Article Synopsis
- Benralizumab, an antibody for eosinophilic asthma, helps reduce flare-ups and reliance on corticosteroids, but its prescribing varies significantly across Japan’s 47 prefectures.
- A study using national insurance claim data found that higher average income correlates with increased benralizumab prescriptions, while correlations with physician density were weaker.
- The findings highlight that income is the most significant factor affecting access to advanced asthma treatments in Japan, suggesting that addressing financial barriers is crucial for improving patient care and outcomes.
Article Synopsis
- This study examined the effectiveness of two treatment combinations for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy (CP) and nivolumab plus ipilimumab and chemotherapy (CNI).
- It was conducted with 182 patients and aimed to assess overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), response rates, and safety profiles of each regimen.
- The results indicated that CP offered better PFS (11.7 months) compared to CNI (6.6 months), while there were no major differences in OS, suggesting that CP may be a preferable first-line therapy in real-world settings.
Article Synopsis
- Research aimed to create a panel of fewer tumor markers for lung cancer diagnosis, balancing sensitivity with the risk of false positives.
- The study involved 1,733 patients and used logistic regression to identify three key markers (CEA, CYFRA, NSE) linked to lung cancer diagnosis.
- The three-marker panel demonstrated better diagnostic accuracy and reduced false positives compared to a panel that included all six tumor markers.
Article Synopsis
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is common, and while long-term use of macrolides like azithromycin and erythromycin can help reduce exacerbations, the best macrolide and treatment duration are still under investigation.
- A systematic review involving 1,965 patients found that long-term macrolide use significantly reduces the frequency of COPD exacerbations and hospitalizations, particularly with longer treatment durations (like 12 months).
- Although long-term macrolide use shows benefits, it may also lead to increased bacterial resistance, and while no major side effects were reported, the overall improvement in quality of life (measured by the St George's Respir
Article Synopsis
- This study investigates the effects of new systemic therapies on non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), focusing on gene mutations and PD-L1 levels.
- Conducted in Japan with 863 NSCLC patients, researchers compared various treatments and analyzed survival rates based on therapy type and PD-L1 expression.
- Results highlighted that targeted therapies led to the best overall survival and emphasized the importance of incorporating molecular diagnostics and PD-L1 assessment in treatment plans.
Article Synopsis
- Whole genome sequencing (WGS) can be used to predict drug resistance in tuberculosis either through a catalog-based method that identifies specific mutations or a noncatalog approach using advanced algorithms like machine learning.
- A systematic review analyzed 44 studies with nearly 17,000 specimens, revealing excellent test accuracy for isoniazid and rifampicin, very good accuracy for several other drugs, and good accuracy for a few more.
- Both catalog-based and noncatalog-based methods demonstrated similar effectiveness in predicting drug susceptibility using WGS results.
Background: The efficacy of adding atezolizumab to the platinum doublet regimen for extensive disease small cell lung cancer (ED-SCLC) remains marginally limited.
Methods: We retrospectively assessed the real-world efficacy and safety of atezolizumab in addition to carboplatin and etoposide (EP + A), versus carboplatin and etoposide (EP) alone in previously untreated ED-SCLC patients.
Results: From a total of 99 patients, 46 were assigned to the EP + A group, and 53 to the EP group.
Objective: Epidemiological information is essential in providing appropriate empiric antimicrobial therapy for pneumonia. This study aimed to clarify the epidemiology of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) by conducting a systematic review of published studies in Japan.
Design: Systematic review.
Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have shown remarkable therapeutic outcomes among cancer patients. Durvalumab plus tremelimumab (DT) is under investigation as a new ICI combination therapy, and its efficacy has been reported in various types of cancer. However, the safety profile of DT remains unclear, especially considering rare adverse events (AEs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a leading cause of death globally. Identifying the factors associated with mortality during hospitalization for TB is crucial for improving patient outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the potential risk factors, including T-SPOT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdverse events induced by nivolumab and ipilimumab combination regimens.
Ther Adv Med Oncol
February 2022
Background: No meta-analysis has assessed the pooled frequencies of adverse events (AEs) induced by concomitant nivolumab plus ipilimumab regimen for anticancer-medications-naïve malignancies. Furthermore, no meta-analysis has compared detailed safety profiles between four doses of nivolumab 3 mg/kg plus ipilimumab 1 mg/kg every 3 weeks (N3I1) and four doses of nivolumab 1 mg/kg plus ipilimumab 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks (N1I3). Objectives of this study was estimating AE frequencies, and comparison of AE frequencies between N3I1 and N1I3 regimens.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Pembrolizumab alone or in combination with chemotherapy is a standard treatment for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with high programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. However, no study has compared the efficacies of these two regimens. Therefore, we aimed to compare the efficacy of pembrolizumab alone and in combination with chemotherapy in NSCLC patients with high PD-L1 expression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. It is advisable to select the appropriate treatment based on characteristics of the cancer such as pathology, mutations, and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) levels. In this study, by remarking squamous NSCLC with low PD-L1 expression without mutations, we investigated the efficacy and safety of regimens that included molecularly targeted drugs such as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) through a network meta-analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- A 72-year-old Japanese male had lung infiltrates and masses for 3 years, but multiple biopsies did not lead to a diagnosis until he was transferred to another hospital.
- Using positron emission tomography, increased activity was found in his lungs and lymph nodes, leading to a surgical biopsy that confirmed Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL).
- After starting chemotherapy, the lung lesions significantly improved, highlighting the low diagnostic success rate (18.5%) of traditional transbronchial lung biopsies in HL cases.
Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a standard treatment for advanced lung cancer, although it remains important to identify biomarkers that can accurately predict treatment response. Immune checkpoint inhibitors enhance the antitumor T-cell response, and interferon-γ plays an important role in this process. Therefore, this study evaluated whether the number of interferon-γ-releasing peripheral T cells after phytohemagglutinin stimulation in the interferon-γ release assay might act as a biomarker for the response of non-small cell lung cancer to immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Differences in the resistance mechanisms of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring epidermal growth factor receptor mutations are unknown. This meta-analysis aimed to clarify the differences in resistance mechanisms after treatment with various epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, Cochrane, and Web of Science on July 29, 2020, for relevant studies on acquired resistance mechanisms against epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
Background/aim: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have an important role in lung cancer therapy. Although the programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-L1) tumor proportion score (TPS) and tumor mutational burden are known prognostic factors, they are insufficient to predict clinical outcomes. This study was conducted to identify novel biomarkers for ICI treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report the case of an 85-year-old man who was surgically diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma (pT2aN1M0 stage IIA). He was administered platinum combination chemotherapy as first-line treatment for lung cancer recurrence. The patient's pleural fluid sample was obtained and analysed using a next-generation sequencer, which demonstrated the presence of mesenchymal-epithelial transition gene (MET) exon 14 skipping mutations.
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