Functional inhibition of heat shock protein 70 by VER-155008 suppresses pleural mesothelioma cell proliferation via an autophagy mechanism.

Background: Pleural mesothelioma, a devastating asbestos-associated malignancy, urgently requires a novel effective therapy. Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), which is synthesized in the cell response to protein damage, is expected to be a new target for antitumor treatment. In addition to its well-known protein refolding function, HSP70 regulates cell proliferation through different pathways, including PI3K/AKT/mTOR, and autophagy in malignant cells.

Validation of prognostic impact of number of extrathoracic metastases according to the eighth TNM classification: a single-institution retrospective study in Japan.

Background: In the eighth edition of the TNM classification of lung cancer, the M1b and M1c descriptors are newly defined by the number of extrathoracic metastases. To verify the prognostic value of these descriptors in Japan, we reclassified our cases and re-evaluated prognosis in M1b and M1c patients.

Methods: All non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with extrathoracic metastases who visited Saitama Medical Center from 2010 to 2016 were evaluated, divided according to the eighth edition of the TNM classification criteria into two groups (M1b, patients with single extrathoracic metastasis, and M1c, patients with multiple extrathoracic metastases), and followed up until December 31, 2017.

Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome with a Novel Missense Mutation in COL3A1: A Man in His 50s with Aortic Dissection after Interventional Treatment for Hemothorax as the First Manifestation.

Type III collagen is the major protein in the walls of blood vessels and hollow organs; it is decreased in patients with vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS). A 52-year-old man was admitted for severe back pain, and right hemothorax was suspected by chest computed tomography. Immediately after embolization for bleeding bronchial artery, aortic dissection occurred and was treated conservatively in the intensive-care unit.