An Increase in Aspartate Aminotransferase Can Predict Worsening Disease Severity in Japanese Patients with COVID-19.

Background: The prognostic significance of liver dysfunction in COVID-19 patients remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the association between liver function test results and severe disease progression in COVID-19 patients.

Methods: This retrospective study included consecutive Japanese COVID-19 patients admitted between February 2020 and July 2021.

Real-world outcomes of nivolumab plus ipilimumab and pembrolizumab with platinum-based chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer: a multicenter retrospective comparative study.

Introduction: Nivolumab plus ipilimumab with chemotherapy (NICT) and pembrolizumab with chemotherapy (PCT) are commonly used in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Compared with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) monotherapy, ICI combination therapy can increase immune-related toxicity instead of prolonging survival. This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of NICT and PCT to decide on the favorable treatment.

Pneumonitis During Durvalumab Consolidation Therapy Affects Survival in Stage III NSCLC.

Introduction: Durvalumab consolidation therapy is the standard of care after concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for stage III NSCLC. Immune-related pneumonitis during durvalumab treatment is potentially fatal; however, information is lacking regarding the impact of pneumonitis on patient survival. This study investigates the effect of pulmonary and nonpulmonary immune-related adverse events (irAEs) on the efficacy of durvalumab treatment in patients with stage III NSCLC.

Glucose control in the early phase of hospitalization is associated with severe prognosis in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with diabetes in Japan.

Unlabelled: We investigated the association of glycemic control in the early phase of hospitalization with the prognosis of COVID-19 in patients with diabetes. We analyzed the relationship between various clinical indices, including preprandial blood glucose levels measured by self-monitoring devices in the early phase after admission, and severe prognosis in 189 patients with complicated diabetes who were admitted to our hospital between February 22, 2020 and June 20, 2021. Enrolled patients had a median age of 72 years, median body mass index of 24.

Impact of Lymphopenia Recovery After Chemoradiotherapy on Durvalumab Consolidation Therapy in Stage III NSCLC.

Introduction: Durvalumab maintenance therapy after definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is the standard treatment modality for stage III NSCLC. Although severe treatment-related lymphopenia (TRL) during CRT may impair the efficacy of subsequent durvalumab therapy, data on the effect of TRL recovery on consolidation durvalumab therapy are lacking.

Methods: This retrospective study evaluated patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC treated with durvalumab after concurrent CRT.

Cutaneous manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 patients in Japan.

Some patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) develop skin manifestations. There may be regional and racial differences in the frequency and type of COVID-19-associated skin manifestations. There are, however, few reports on skin manifestations in COVID-19 patients in Asia, including Japan.

Nivolumab dose escalation triggered immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced colitis after 147 weeks of prolonged stable use in a patient with lung cancer: a case report.

A 56-year-old man with advanced lung adenocarcinoma presented to the emergency department with a 6-day history of diarrhea. He was treated for lung cancer with nivolumab 3 mg/kg (144 mg/body) every 2 weeks (Q2W), followed by an increase to 240 mg Q2W for 147 weeks, for a total of 69 administrations. His dose was then increased to 480 mg/body every four weeks (Q4W) 12 days before his presentation.

Early clinical factors predicting the development of critical disease in Japanese patients with COVID-19: A single-center, retrospective, observational study.

The factors predicting the progression of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) from mild to moderate to critical are unclear. We retrospectively evaluated risk factors for disease progression in Japanese patients with COVID-19. Seventy-four patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 were hospitalized in our hospital between February 20, 2020, and June 10, 2020.

EphA2 inhibition suppresses proliferation of small-cell lung cancer cells through inducing cell cycle arrest.

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is characterized by one of neuroendocrine tumors, and is a clinically aggressive cancer due to its rapid growth, early dissemination, and rapid acquisition of multidrug resistance to chemotherapy. Moreover, the standard chemotherapeutic regimen in SCLC has not changed for three decades despite of the dramatic therapeutic improvement in non-SCLC. The development of a novel therapeutic strategy for SCLC has become a pressing issue.

Anti-proteinase 3-positive Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis Revealed by Cardiac Tamponade.

Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) is a rare systemic vasculitis characterized by asthma, eosinophilia, and diffuse eosinophilic infiltration. Although cardiovascular involvement is common and a leading cause of EGPA-related mortality, severe pericarditis-led cardiac tamponade occurs rarely. We herein report a 72-year-old man with anti-proteinase 3 (anti-PR3) anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-positive EGPA diagnosed by the presence of cardiac tamponade, which responded quickly to pericardiocentesis and a single administration of prednisolone.

A Phase II Study of Tailored-dose S-1 Plus Carboplatin Followed by Maintenance S-1 for Advanced Squamous Cell Lung Cancer: OSAKA-LCSG 1102.

Objective A subset analysis of the LETS study suggested that S-1 plus carboplatin was more beneficial than paclitaxel plus carboplatin in terms of the overall survival (OS) in squamous cell lung cancer. However, the benefit of maintenance therapy for squamous cell non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients is still unknown. We herein report a phase II study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a tailored dose of S-1 plus carboplatin followed by maintenance S-1 in chemotherapy-naive advanced squamous cell NSCLC.

Semaphorin 7A promotes EGFR-TKI resistance in EGFR mutant lung adenocarcinoma cells.

Although responses to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) are initially positive, 30%-40% of patients with EGFR-mutant tumors do not respond well to EGFR-TKIs, and most lung cancer patients harboring EGFR mutations experience relapse with resistance. Therefore, it is necessary to identify not only the mechanisms underlying EGFR-TKI resistance, but also potentially novel therapeutic targets and/or predictive biomarkers for EGFR-mutant lung adenocarcinoma. We found that the GPI-anchored protein semaphorin 7A (SEMA7A) is highly induced by the EGFR pathway, via mTOR signaling, and that expression levels of SEMA7A in human lung adenocarcinoma specimens were correlated with mTOR activation.

The Direct Oblique Method: A New Gold Standard for Bronchoscopic Navigation That is Superior to Automatic Methods.

Background: The purpose of this study was to identify bronchi on computed tomographic (CT) images, manual analysis is more accurate than automatic methods. Nonetheless, manual bronchoscopic navigation is not preferred as it involves mentally reconstructing a route to a bronchial target by interpreting 2-dimensional CT images. Here, we established the direct oblique method (DOM), a form of manual bronchoscopic navigation that does not necessitate mental reconstruction, and compared it with automatic virtual bronchoscopic navigation (VBN).

Double deletion of tetraspanins CD9 and CD81 in mice leads to a syndrome resembling accelerated aging.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been recently characterized as a disease of accelerated lung aging, but the mechanism remains unclear. Tetraspanins have emerged as key players in malignancy and inflammatory diseases. Here, we found that CD9/CD81 double knockout (DKO) mice with a COPD-like phenotype progressively developed a syndrome resembling human aging, including cataracts, hair loss, and atrophy of various organs, including thymus, muscle, and testis, resulting in shorter survival than wild-type (WT) mice.

Trastuzumab emtansine suppresses the growth of HER2-positive small-cell lung cancer in preclinical models.

Overcoming chemoresistance is essential for achieving better prognoses in SCLC. Previously, we reported that HER2 is upregulated when HER2-positive SCLC cells acquire chemoresistance. HER2-upregulated cisplatin- or etoposide-resistant SCLC cells were sensitive to trastuzumab-mediated ADCC.

Clarifying the biological significance of the CHK2 K373E somatic mutation discovered in The Cancer Genome Atlas database.

We identified CHK2 K373E as a recurrent mutation in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. In this study, we demonstrate that the K373E mutation disrupts CHK2 autophosphorylation as well as kinase activity, thus leading to impairment of CHK2 functions in suppressing cell proliferation and promoting cell survival after ionizing radiation. We propose that K373E impairs p53-independent induction of p21 by CHK2.

Dapsone hypersensitivity syndrome-related lung injury without eosinophilia in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid.

A 73-year-old man was admitted in respiratory failure that had subacutely progressed after five weeks of dapsone treatment for a skin rash. He also presented with fever, systemic erythroderma and liver dysfunction. Chest computed tomography showed diffuse reticular shadows with ground-glass opacity and bilateral mediastinal lymphadenopathy.

Favorable response to trastuzumab plus irinotecan combination therapy in two patients with HER2-positive relapsed small-cell lung cancer.

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) easily recurs with multidrug resistance phenotype. However, standard therapeutic strategies for relapsed-SCLC remain unestablished. Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) expression correlates with poor prognosis in extensive disease-SCLC.

Carboplatin plus paclitaxel in combination with bevacizumab for the treatment of adenocarcinoma with interstitial lung diseases.

Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) are frequently associated with lung cancer. The safety of carboplatin plus paclitaxel in combination with bevacizumab (CP-B) in patients with ILD and lung cancer (ILD-LC) remains to be clarified. In the present study, the safety and efficacy of CP-B treatment in ILD-LC patients were retrospectively investigated.

Overcoming chemoresistance of small-cell lung cancer through stepwise HER2-targeted antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity and VEGF-targeted antiangiogenesis.

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) easily recurs with a multidrug resistant phenotype. However, standard therapeutic strategies for relapsed SCLC remain unestablished. We found that human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is not only expressed in pretreated human SCLC specimens, but is also upregulated when HER2-positive SCLC cells acquire chemoresistance.

Impact of pneumonia on hyperactive delirium in end-stage lung cancer patients.

Purpose: Patients with incurable lung cancer often receive palliative care. Hyperactive delirium is a burden not only for the patient's family but also for caregivers. There are no reports describing the risk factors for delirium among lung cancer patients.

Clinical significance of the serum crosslinked N-telopeptide of type I collagen as a prognostic marker for non-small-cell lung cancer.

Introduction: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death. Many patients with lung cancer are in its advanced stages at the time of diagnosis. The 5-year survival rate for lung cancer is 10% to 20%, and the prognosis for patients with lung cancer is still poor.

Prognostic factors in malignant pleural mesothelioma: a retrospective study.

Objective: The incidence of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) in Japan is predicted to increase over the next few decades. Prognostic factors remain unclear although several studies have reported this disease. In this study, we examined the prognostic factors of MPM from single institution practice data and tested the scoring systems of past reports.