Integrated endoscopic treatment of primitive unresectable tracheal tumor: the INTACT retrospective cohort study.

Background: Primitive tracheal tumors represent a rare entity whose management, when unresectable, remains challenging. Primary aim of this study was to explore the survival and the factors influencing prognosis of patients with unresectable primitive tracheal tumor undergoing multimodal treatment integrating interventional bronchoscopy and radiotherapy.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted at the University Hospital of Modena (Italy) over a 12-year period (January 2010 to January 2022) analyzing patients with unresectable primary tracheal tumor receiving interventional bronchoscopy treatment followed by radiotherapy.

Postoperative Radiation Therapy for Thymic Carcinoma: An Analysis of the International Thymic Malignancy Interest Group/European Society of Thoracic Surgeons Database.

Introduction: R0 resection and radiation therapy have been associated with improved overall survival (OS) in patients with thymic carcinoma (TC). Here, we analyzed which subgroups of patients derive the greatest benefit from postoperative radiation therapy (PORT).

Methods: Clinical, pathologic, treatment, and survival information of 462 patients with TC from the International Thymic Malignancy Interest Group/European Society of Thoracic Surgeons database were analyzed.

Reconstruction of Complex Anterior Chest Wall Defects: The Lasagna Technique.

Background: Sternal tumors are rare, comprising only 0.94% of all bone tumors, with the majority being sarcomas. An extensive composite defect is often the result of surgical resection.

Multi-level analysis and evaluation of organizational improvements in thoracic surgery according to a Value-Based HealthCare approach.

Background: Value-Based HealthCare (VBHC), designed by Harvard University, is an evolving model of healthcare delivery that achieves better patient outcomes and greater financial sustainability for the healthcare professionals. According to this innovative approach, the value is determined by a panel of indicators and the ratio between results and costs. Our goal was to develop a panel of thoracic-fashioned key-performance indicators (KPIs) creating a model that could be applied in thoracic surgery for the first time, reporting our early experience.

Lymphadenectomy for lung carcinoids: Which factors may predict nodal upstaging? A multi centric, retrospective study.

Objective: To investigate risk factors for nodal upstaging in patients with lung carcinoids and to understand which type of lymphadenectomy is most appropriate.

Methods: Data regarding patients with lung carcinoids, who underwent surgical resection and lymphadenectomy in five institutions from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2019, were collected and retrospectively analyzed. Clinical and pathological tumor characteristics were correlated to analyze lymph node upstaging.

IL-17 Promotes Nitric Oxide Production in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

Introduction: Lung cancer is the second most frequent malignancy worldwide, but its aetiology is still unclear. Inflammatory cytokines and Th cells, including Th17, are now emerging as being involved in NSCLC pathways, thus postulating a role of IL-17 in tumour angiogenesis by stimulating the vascular endothelial growth factor and the release of nitric oxide. Despite the fact that many biomarkers are used for chest malignancy diagnosis, data on FeNO levels and inflammatory cytokines in NSCLC are still few.

Safety and Feasibility of Thoracic Malignancy Surgery During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has decreased surgical activity, particularly in the field of oncology, because of the suspicion of a higher risk of COVID-19-related severe events. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility and safety of thoracic cancer surgery in the most severely affected European and Canadian regions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: The study investigators prospectively collected data on surgical procedures for malignant thoracic diseases from January 1 to April 30, 2020.

Prognostic score for survival with pulmonary carcinoids: the importance of associating clinical with pathological characteristics.

Objectives: Lung carcinoids (LCs) are staged using the non-small-cell lung cancer tumour/node/metastasis staging system; the possibility of an LC-specific staging system is still being debated. The goal of our study was to construct a composite prognostic score for LC.

Methods: From January 2002 to December 2014, data from 293 patients who underwent surgical treatment for LC in 7 research institutes were retrospectively analysed.

Molecular strategies in the management of bronchopulmonary and thymic neuroendocrine neoplasms.

Thoracic NETs [bronchopulmonary NETs (BPNETs) and thymic NETs (TNET)] share a common anatomic primary location, likely a common cell of origin, the "Kulchitsky cell" and presumably, a common etiopathogenesis. Although they are similarly grouped into well-differentiated [typical carcinoids (TC) and atypical carcinoids (AC)] and poorly differentiated neoplasms and both express somatostatin receptors, they exhibit a wide variation in clinical behavior. TNETs are more aggressive, are frequently metastatic, and have a lower 5-year survival rate (~50% .

Distinctive pathological and clinical features of lung carcinoids with high proliferation index.

Typical (TCs) and atypical carcinoids (ACs) are defined based on morphological criteria, and no grading system is currently accepted to further stratify these entities. The 2015 WHO classification restricts the Ki-67 role to biopsy or cytology samples, rather than for prognostic prediction. We aimed to investigate whether values and patterns of Ki-67 alone would allow for a clinically meaningful stratification of lung carcinoids, regardless of histological typing.

Long-term results after treatment for recurrent thymoma: a multicenter analysis.

Objectives: The treatment for recurrent thymoma remains a very controversial issue. This study aims to investigate the long-term outcomes in patients with relapse according to treatment strategies and clinicopathological features.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the database of three tertiary centers of thoracic surgery with the aim of reviewing the clinical records of 81 patients who experienced a recurrent thymoma after radical thymectomy, in the period between January 2001 and June 2013.

Is (18)F-FDG PET useful in predicting the WHO grade of malignancy in thymic epithelial tumors? A meta-analysis.

Aim: To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of published data on the role of fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ((18)F-FDG PET) in predicting the WHO grade of malignancy in thymic epithelial tumors (TETs).

Methods: A comprehensive literature search of studies published up to March 2014 was performed. Data on maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) in patients with low-risk thymomas (A, AB, B1), high-risk thymomas (B2, B3) and thymic carcinomas (C) according to the WHO classification were collected when reported by the retrieved articles.

Inflammatory cytokines and VEGF measured in exhaled breath condensate are correlated with tumor mass in non-small cell lung cancer.

Inflammation mediated by the immune system is known to be important in carcinogenesis and, specifically, T helper 17 cells have been reported to play a role in tumor progression by promoting neo-angiogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether inflammatory cytokines and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) and in serum were related to tumor size in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Il-6, IL-17, TNF-α and VEGF levels were measured in EBC and serum of 15 patients with stage I-IIA NSCLC and in 30 healthy controls by immunoassay.

Malignant solitary fibrous tumors of the pleura: retrospective review of a multicenter series.

Introduction: Available data on the malignant solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura (mSFTP), a very rare neoplasm with unpredictable prognosis, are scarce. The aim of this study is to collectively analyze the aggregated data from the largest series in the English literature to date, a multicenter, 10-year study of 50-cases.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of patients who underwent surgical resection for mSFTP in the period between January 2000 to July 2010.

Completion pneumonectomy: a multicentre international study on 165 patients.

Objectives: We evaluated factors that influenced morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing completion pneumonectomy (CP).

Methods: A retrospective review of a consecutive series of patients who underwent CP at six international centres.

Results: In total, 165 CP were performed between March 1990 and December 2009: 152 for malignant disease and 13 for benign disease.

Imatinib inhibits in vitro proliferation of cells derived from a pleural solitary fibrous tumor expressing platelet-derived growth factor receptor-beta.

We examined the in vitro effects of imatinib (Novartis Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland) as a possible inhibitor of PDGFR pathway on cells derived from a recurrence of a pleural malignant solitary fibrous tumor (SFT). Primary cell culture was characterised by immunofluorescence. SFT-derived cells were treated with imatinib at different time points.

Postoperative exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Does it exist?

Background: One of the characteristics of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the tendency to develop acute exacerbation, defined by the presence of different clinical findings as worsening dyspnea, increase in sputum purulence and volume. This study was designed to verify if definition of acute COPD exacerbation is applicable to patients who underwent pulmonary surgery, and if it has any impact on postoperative morbidity and mortality.

Methods: This study was designed to prospectively enrol 1000 patients undergoing pulmonary resection for lung cancer from five different centres.

Does adjuvant radiation therapy improve disease-free survival in completely resected Masaoka stage II thymoma?

Objective: To determine whether or not patients with completely resected Masaoka stage II thymoma benefit from postoperative radiotherapy (RT).

Methods: We retrospectively review the case records and compared the long-term outcomes of patients affected by Masaoka stage II thymoma treated by resection alone with same stage thymoma patients submitted to resection and RT. Surgical specimens were reviewed to confirm pathological stage, negative resection margins and histological subtype.

Pulmonary metastases from epithelial tumours: late results of surgical treatment.

Objective: Development of distant metastases is one of the primary characteristics of malignant tumours. During the last decades, lung metastasectomy has been progressively accepted as a therapeutic option in oncology patients. The present paper aims to evaluate the long-term results and factors influencing prognosis in patients submitted to lung resection for metastases from extrapulmonary epithelial tumours.

Large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the lung: a retrospective analysis of 144 surgical cases.

Objective: Large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the lung are considered aggressive. However, reported prognoses are heterogeneous and the optimum treatment remains undefined. We retrospectively evaluated outcomes in a series of patients with a pathological diagnosis of large cell neuroendocrine lung carcinoma, who underwent lung resection.

World Health Organization histologic classification: an independent prognostic factor in resected thymomas.

The histologic classification of thymoma remained controversial since 1999, when the World Health Organization (WHO) Consensus Committee published a histologic typing system for tumours of thymus. Clinical features, postoperative relapsing rates, and survival of patients with thymoma were evaluated with reference to the WHO histologic classification, based on a series of 178 patients, submitted to surgery between 1988 and 2000. There were 21 type A, 49 type AB, 45 type B1, 50 type B2 and 13 type B3 tumours.