Purpose: Maximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing (max. CPET) provides the most accurate measurement of cardiorespiratory fitness. However, glioblastoma (GBM) patients often undergo less intensive tests, e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Sarcopenia may complicate treatment in cancer patients. Herein, we assessed whether sarcopenia measurements derived from radiation planning computed tomography (CT) were associated with complications and tumor progression during radiochemotherapy for glioblastoma.
Methods: Consecutive patients undergoing radiotherapy planning for glioblastoma between 2010 and 2021 were analyzed.
The evolutionary processes that underlie the marked sensitivity of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) to chemotherapy and rapid relapse are unknown. Here we determined tumour phylogenies at diagnosis and throughout chemotherapy and immunotherapy by multiregion sequencing of 160 tumours from 65 patients. Treatment-naive SCLC exhibited clonal homogeneity at distinct tumour sites, whereas first-line platinum-based chemotherapy led to a burst in genomic intratumour heterogeneity and spatial clonal diversity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Exercise proved to reduce cancer-related symptoms and prolong survival in some cancer types. However, brain tumor patients are often advised against strenuous exercise. Here, we summarize our experience with a submaximal exercise program for glioma patients: ActiNO (Active in Neuro-Oncology).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Purpose: Glioblastoma (GBM) patients face a strongly unfavorable prognosis despite multimodal therapy regimens. However, individualized mortality prediction remains imprecise. Harnessing routine radiation planning cranial computed tomography (CT) scans, we assessed cervical body composition measures as novel biomarkers for overall survival (OS) in GBM patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of the immune response-driven disease COVID-19 for which new antiviral and anti-inflammatory treatments are urgently needed to reduce recovery time, risk of death and long COVID development. Here, we demonstrate that the immunoregulatory kinase p38 MAPK is activated during viral entry, mediated by the viral spike protein, and drives the harmful virus-induced inflammatory responses. Using primary human lung explants and lung epithelial organoids, we demonstrate that targeting p38 signal transduction with the selective and clinically pre-evaluated inhibitors PH-797804 and VX-702 markedly reduced the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL6, CXCL8, CXCL10 and TNF-α during infection, while viral replication and the interferon-mediated antiviral response of the lung epithelial barrier were largely maintained.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPandemic outbreaks of viruses such as influenza virus or SARS-CoV-2 are associated with high morbidity and mortality and thus pose a massive threat to global health and economics. Physiologically relevant models are needed to study the viral life cycle, describe the pathophysiological consequences of viral infection, and explore possible drug targets and treatment options. While simple cell culture-based models do not reflect the tissue environment and systemic responses, animal models are linked with huge direct and indirect costs and ethical questions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Following COVID-19, patients often present with ongoing symptoms comparable to chronic fatigue and subjective deterioration of exercise capacity (EC), which has been recently described as postacute COVID-19 syndrome.
Objective: To objectify the reduced EC after COVID-19 and to evaluate for pathologic limitations.
Methods: Thirty patients with subjective limitation of EC performed cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET).
The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and restrictions on everyday life worldwide. This may be especially challenging for brain tumor patients given increased vulnerability due to their pre-existing condition. Here, we aimed to investigate the quality of life (QoL) in brain tumor patients and relatives in this setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives/hypothesis: Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) is a primarily benign disease affecting the entire respiratory tract. Treatment is challenging and usually involves surgical interventions and adjuvant medications. Previously, promising results on systemic administration of bevacizumab have been reported.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNon-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide underlining the urgent need for new biomarkers and therapeutic targets for this disease. Long noncoding RNAs are critical players in NSCLC but the role of small RNA species is not well understood. In the present study, we investigated the role of H/ACA box small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) and snoRNA-bound ribonucleoproteins (snoRNPs) in the tumorigenesis of NSCLC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is of importance in the pathogenesis of pulmonary emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), and bronchiectasis. Various pulmonary disorders are a typical feature of primary immunodeficiency disease (PID). This includes recurrent pulmonary infections, immunodysregulation, and autoinflammatory diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSARS-CoV-2 infection can cause severe pneumonia (COVID-19). There is evidence that patients with comorbidities are at higher risk of a severe disease course. The role of immunosuppression in the disease course is not clear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/aim: Thyroid cancer (TC) is a relatively rare malignancy. The mainstay treatment is surgery followed by radioactive iodine (RAI) and medical systemic treatments. The role of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) in TC is controversial regarding the survival benefits.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA brain tumor diagnosis poses a significant psychological burden and it severely impacts quality of life (QOL), both in patients and relatives. However, comprehensive strategies addressing QOL in this setting remain rare. Here, we aim to share our findings of a one-week ski exercise intervention, with emphasis on feasibility, safety, QOL, and physical exercise.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfluenza is an acute respiratory infection causing high morbidity and mortality in annual outbreaks worldwide. Antiviral drugs are limited and pose the risk of resistance development, calling for new treatment options. IFN-α subtypes are immune-stimulatory cytokines with strong antiviral activities against IAV and However, the clinical use of IFN-α2, the only licensed subtype of this multi-gene family, could not prevent or limit IAV infections in humans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) carries a strongly unfavorable prognosis despite intensive multidisciplinary therapy. Physical exercise is rarely offered to patients for fear of adverse events such as falls, epileptic seizures, or bleeding, despite little supporting evidence. Here, we report a study of high-level and long-term exercise in a GBM patient.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Cerebral tumors are associated with high rates of anxiety, depression and reduced health related quality of life. Nevertheless psychooncological screening instruments are neither implemented nor well defined in the daily routine of neurosurgical departments. Therefore, we tried (1) to identify a suitable screening algorithm for neurosurgical patients, (2) to define clinical risk factors for increased distress and (3) to analyze the optimal screening time point.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSoluble Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells 1 (sTREM-1) can be found in the sera of patients with infectious, autoimmune and malignant diseases. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of sTREM-1 in lung cancer patients. We analyzed the sera of 164 patients with lung cancer of all histologies and all stages at the time of diagnosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile targeted nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) therapies have improved the outcome of defined disease subtypes, prognosis for most patients remains poor. We found the AAA+ ATPase Reptin to be highly expressed in the vast majority of 278 NSCLC tumour samples. Thus, the objective of the study was to assess the role of Reptin in NSCLC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: PSMA (prostate-specific membrane antigen) is overexpressed in prostate cancer cells and is reported to be a promising target for antibody-based radioligand therapy in patients with metastasized prostate cancer. Since PSMA expression is not restricted to prostate cancer, the underlying study investigates PSMA expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Material And Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to identify PSMA expression in n = 275 samples of NSCLC tissue specimens.