Benefit of a second opinion for lung cancer: no metastasis to the kidney but a synchronous primary renal neoplasm.

Background: The finding of a renal mass on imaging is suggestive of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer in the presence of a lung tumor but can also have another origin.

Case Report: We describe the case of a patient diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer based on a renal metastasis. A second opinion including review of histopathological data and additional imaging followed by lung surgery and cryoablation of the kidney lesion revealed two tumors of different origins, non-small cell lung cancer and a renal cell carcinoma.

Why do patients and caregivers seek answers from the Internet and online lung specialists? A qualitative study.

Background: Since its launch in 2003, the Dutch Lung Cancer Information Center's (DLIC) website has become increasingly popular. The most popular page of the website is the section "Ask the Physician", where visitors can ask an online lung specialist questions anonymously and receive an answer quickly. Most questions were not only asked by lung cancer patients but also by their informal caregivers.

Benefit of a second opinion: From metastatic disease to resectable lung cancer with sarcoid-like reaction.

Background: Mediastinal lymphadenopathy in combination with lung cancer is suggestive for lymph node metastases but can also have other origins.

Case Report: We describe a patient diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer presenting with parenchymal lesions and enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes. A second opinion including FDG-PET scan review and a mediastinoscopy followed by surgery revealed tumor specimens originating from a single primary tumor with a sarcoid-like reaction in the mediastinal lymph nodes, changing the diagnosis from metastasized to resectable lung cancer.

Website visitors asking questions online to lung cancer specialists: what do they want to know?

Background: In 2003 the Dutch Lung Cancer Information Centre (Longkanker Informatie Centrum) launched a website containing information on lung cancer accessible to anyone.

Objective: Our study aim was to inventorize the information needs of the visitors of this website by analyzing the questions they asked the lung cancer specialists in the websites interactive section "Ask the Physician".

Methods: The first 2000 questions posted up until May 2006 have been classified by visitors' wish, type of required information, identity, gender, and phase during treatment course.

The finding of premalignant lesions is not associated with smoking cessation in chemoprevention study volunteers.

Background And Study Aims: Screening programs for lung cancer may lead to a heightened awareness of the risks of smoking and enhance quitting. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the participation on a chemoprevention study for premalignant lesions could influence smoking cessation.

Methods: Two hundred one volunteers, current (n = 188) and former smokers (n = 13) with more than 20 pack years had been screened for the chemoprevention study.

Treatment refusal and abandonment in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in Indonesia: an analysis of causes and consequences.

Background: Treatment refusal and abandonment are common causes of treatment failure in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in many developing countries. In most studies reasons for abandonment were based on the opinion of health-care providers (HCP), very few studies have focused on the parental point-of-view. Aims of the study were to analyze the parents' reasons of abandonment and to ascertain the fate of children who abandoned treatment in a pediatric oncology centre in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

A web site on lung cancer: who are the users and what are they looking for?

Purpose: The Dutch Lung Cancer Information Centre launched the Web site www.longkanker.info in November 2003.