Publications by authors named "Shunichi Watanabe"

KRAS inhibitors sotorasib and adagrasib have been approved for the treatment of KRAS-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the efficacy of single-agent treatments is limited, presumably due to multiple resistance mechanisms. To overcome these therapeutic limitations, combination strategies that potentiate the antitumor efficacy of KRAS inhibitors must be developed.

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  • * Results showed that a higher PRS was more strongly related to EGFR-positive LUAD cases (OR=8.63) than to EGFR-negative cases (OR=3.50), indicating a significant association based on mutation status.
  • * These findings imply that genetic susceptibility to LUAD differs in never-smoking East Asian women depending on whether the cancer has specific mutations, which could affect public health strategies and clinical practices.*
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Background: Surgical resection followed by adjuvant chemotherapy is currently the first choice for the treatment of clinical N1 (cN1) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, diagnosing cN1 correctly can be difficult, even with current imaging diagnostic technologies. We aimed to analyze the diagnostic accuracy of preoperative nodal status and the predictive factors for nodal upstaging of cN1-NSCLC.

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In patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who present with radiologically undetermined malignant pleural dissemination or incidental surgical diagnosis of the same, surgery is generally not the preferred option; systemic therapy is favoured. However, there is no consensus on incorporating primary site resection into the treatment plan. Retrospective analyses hint at potential benefits of combining systemic therapy with primary site resection, but prospective studies have yet to confirm these findings.

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  • The JCOG0802/WJOG4607L trial showed segmentectomy is better than lobectomy for overall survival in small-peripheral non-small-cell lung cancer, but locoregional relapse (LR) is still a concern.
  • An analysis of 1105 patients with various tumor sites determined that factors like solid tumor appearance and close margins significantly increased the risk of LR after segmentectomy.
  • Key findings stress the importance of using thin-section CT scans and ensuring sufficient margin distance to minimize the risk of LR in patients undergoing segmentectomy.
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Aims: The PEComa family of tumours is defined by spindle/epithelioid cells with myomelanocytic differentiation. A small subset harbours TFE3 fusion; however, YAP1::TEE3 has not been reported. Clear cell stromal tumour of the lung (CCST-L) is an emerging entity characterized by spindle to epithelioid cells with focal cytoplasmic clearing, inflammatory infiltrates, no myomelanocytic differentiation, and YAP1::TFE3 fusion.

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  • The study examines the potential competition between adjuvant osimertinib and the current standard treatment, oral tegafur/uracil (UFT), for early-stage lung adenocarcinoma in Japan, particularly focusing on the impact of EGFR mutations on patient outcomes.
  • Researchers analyzed data from 1812 patients with stage I adenocarcinoma to compare 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rates based on their EGFR mutation status and whether they received UFT treatment.
  • Results show that while the DFS rates varied by treatment and mutation status, adjuvant UFT did not provide a significant survival advantage, particularly in patients with EGFR mutations, indicating the need for alternative therapies in this group.
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Background: The cancer genome contains several driver mutations. However, in some cases, no known drivers have been identified; these remaining areas of unmet needs, leading to limited progress in cancer therapy. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) can identify non-coding alterations associated with the disease.

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The nature of microRNA (miRNA) dysfunction in carcinogenesis remains controversial because of the complex connection between miRNA structural diversity and biological processes. Here, we found that oncofetal IGF2BP3 regulates the selective production of a subset of 3'-isoforms (3'-isomiRs), including miR-21-5p and Let-7 family, which induces significant changes in their cellular seed occupancy and structural components, establishing a cancer-specific gene expression profile. The D-score, reflecting dominant production of a representative miR-21-5p+C (a 3'-isomiR), discriminated between clinical early-stage lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) cases with low and high recurrence risks, and was associated with molecular features of cell cycle progression, epithelial-mesenchymal transition pressure, and immune evasion.

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The perioperative treatments for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) should control both local and microscopic systemic disease, because the survival of patients with NSCLC who underwent surgical resection alone has been dismal except in stage IA patients. One way to improve surgical outcome is the administration of chemotherapy before or after the surgical procedure. During the last two decades, many clinical studies have focused on developing optimal adjuvant or neoadjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy regimens that can be combined with surgical treatment and/or radiotherapy.

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  • The Lung Cancer Surgical Study Group (LCSSG) of the Japan Clinical Oncology Group (JCOG), formed in 1986, has expanded from 26 to 52 institutions, involving various specialists in lung cancer treatment.
  • Initially focused on combined therapies, the group has shifted to studying surgical options for small-sized and peripheral non-small cell lung cancer since the 2000s, demonstrating the effectiveness of sublobar resection through clinical trials.
  • With advances in targeted therapies and the need for personalized medicine, the JCOG-LCSSG is adapting treatment strategies and conducting numerous clinical trials to enhance comprehensive care for lung cancer patients.
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Background: Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the lung is a rare histological type of non-small cell lung cancer with a poor prognosis. We aimed to investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic factors of surgically resected sarcomatoid carcinoma of the lung.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 14999 patients who underwent surgical resection for non-small cell lung cancer accumulated by the Japanese Joint Committee of Lung Cancer Registry in 2010.

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  • * The newly developed multi-ancestry PRS showed a strong correlation with LUAD risk, indicating that individuals in the highest PRS percentile had significantly increased risk compared to those in the lowest.
  • * Findings suggest that those in the highest risk category have a lifetime risk of about 6.69%, and they reach the average population's 10-year risk for LUAD by age 41, highlighting the importance of multi-ancestry PRS for better risk assessment in this group.
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Background: In an extensive genomic analysis of lung adenocarcinomas (LUADs), driver mutations have been recognized as potential targets for molecular therapy. However, there remain cases where target genes are not identified. Super-enhancers and structural variants are frequently identified in several hundred loci per case.

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Background: Both small-cell carcinoma (SCLC) and large-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) of the lung are often clinically dealt with as being in the same category as neuroendocrine carcinoma, and their clinical differences have not been adequately assessed.

Methods: The postoperative prognosis was retrospectively analyzed using the data of 196 patients who underwent resection for SCLC or LCNEC.

Results: Of the patients included, 99 (50.

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  • The focus of postoperative monitoring for patients with non-small cell lung cancer is to identify any recurrence or new cancers while treatments are still effective.
  • Although guidelines suggest regular CT scans, evidence shows they may not actually improve patient survival, particularly in advanced stages of the disease.
  • A new phase III trial starting in October 2022 aims to test the effectiveness of less frequent CT scans compared to standard monitoring, involving 1100 patients across 45 institutions over four years, with overall survival as the main goal.
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Objective: Oncological feasibility of segmentectomy for internal non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not been assessed adequately. We assessed the oncological feasibility of segmentectomy for inner-located NSCLC by investigating surgical margins and patient prognosis after undergoing the procedure.

Methods: Of the 3555 patients who underwent resection for lung cancer between 2013 and 2019 at our institution, 659 patients who underwent segmentectomy for clinical stage 0 to stage1A NSCLC were included in this study.

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The Seafloor Geodetic Observation-Array (SGO-A), operated by the Japan Coast Guard, relies on the Global Navigation Satellite System-Acoustics combination (GNSS-A) technique, which integrates satellite positioning systems and undersea acoustic ranging to determine seafloor crustal deformation at the centimeter level for earthquake disaster prevention. Recently, we found distortion in the SGO-A 10-kHz carrier wave that degraded the accuracy. Carrier wave distortion can cause errors on the scale of several centimeters to twenty centimeters, which greatly impedes centimeter-level observations.

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Purpose: Given that left upper lobe and right upper and middle lobes share a similar anatomy, segmentectomy, such as upper division and lingulectomy, should yield identical oncological clearance to left upper lobectomy. We compared the prognosis of segmentectomy with that of lobectomy for early stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the left upper lobe.

Methods: We retrospectively examined 2115 patients who underwent segmentectomy or lobectomy for c-stage I (TNM 8th edition) NSCLC in the left upper lobe in 2010.

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Purpose: Visualizing mitochondria in cancer cells from human pathological specimens may improve our understanding of cancer biology. However, using immunohistochemistry to evaluate mitochondria remains difficult because almost all cells contain mitochondria and the number of mitochondria per cell may have important effects on mitochondrial function. Herein, we established an objective system (Mito-score) for evaluating mitochondria using machine-based processing of hue, saturation, and value color spaces.

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  • Overcoming resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors is critical for treating non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which includes different molecular subtypes with distinct immune landscapes.
  • The study identifies three adenocarcinoma subtypes (TRU, PP, PI) and their immune responses, finding that the PI subtype has a stronger immune activation while the PP subtype shows features that suppress the immune response.
  • Understanding these immune characteristics can guide personalized treatment strategies, suggesting that immune checkpoint inhibitors may work well for the PI subtype and that targeting glycolysis could help improve the immune response in the PP subtype.
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Introduction: The TNM classification of lung cancer is periodically revised. The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer collected and analyzed a new database to inform the forthcoming ninth edition of the TNM classification. The results are herewith presented.

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  • DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification that influences gene expression and is crucial for understanding development and cell differentiation.
  • Most existing analysis tools for DNA methylation focus on comparing data within a single dataset, making it hard to conduct cross-dataset studies like those for rare diseases.
  • The new methPLIER method allows for interdataset comparisons by utilizing advanced techniques such as non-negative matrix factorization and transfer learning, making it more versatile in analyzing methylation data across different studies and platforms.
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Introduction: The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified passive smoking (PS) or secondhand smoke exposure as a group 1 carcinogen linked to lung cancer. However, in contrast to active smoking, the mutagenic properties of PS remain unclear.

Methods: A consecutive cohort of 564 lung adenocarcinoma samples from female never-smokers, who provided detailed information about their exposure to PS during adolescence and in their thirties through a questionnaire, was prepared.

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