Large-Scale Plasma Proteome Epitome Profiling is an Efficient Tool for the Discovery of Cancer Biomarkers.

Current proteomic technologies focus on the quantification of protein levels, while little effort is dedicated to the development of system approaches to simultaneously monitor proteome variability and abundance. Protein variants may display different immunogenic epitopes detectable by monoclonal antibodies. Epitope variability results from alternative splicing, posttranslational modifications, processing, degradation, and complex formation and possesses dynamically changing availability of interacting surface structures that frequently serve as reachable epitopes and often carry different functions.

Evaluation of cardiopulmonary exercise test in the prediction of disease progression in systemic sclerosis.

Objectives: Cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) is a widely used examination to predict the prognosis of many chronic pulmonary diseases, and it has also been tested in systemic sclerosis (SSc) with a focus on the development of pulmonary hypertension. CPET is a highly informative non-invasive tool that provides a more complex information than conventional lung function tests to predict the course of cardiopulmonary diseases, as it provides a general overview of the aerobic metabolism, influenced by pulmonary, cardiovascular and peripheral muscle function. The purpose of this investigation was to assess if the progression and the development of poor overall disease outcome in SSc can be predicted by this method.

Determinants of CAT (COPD Assessment Test) scores in a population of patients with COPD in central and Eastern Europe: The POPE study.

Background: The COPD Assessment Test (CAT) has been proposed to help guide therapy in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is important to understand the distribution of scores in different COPD populations and their determinants.

Methods: The POPE study is an international, observational cross-sectional study of COPD subjects in 11 Central and Eastern European countries aimed at characterizing COPD phenotypes.

Erlotinib as single agent first line treatment in locally advanced or metastatic activating EGFR mutation-positive lung adenocarcinoma (CEETAC): an open-label, non-randomized, multicenter, phase IV clinical trial.

Background: Erlotinib is approved for the first line treatment of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer. Since the number of prospective studies in Caucasian patients treated in routine clinical setting is limited we conducted a multicenter, phase IV clinical trial to determine the efficacy and safety of erlotinib and to demonstrate the feasibility of the validated standardized companion diagnostic method of EGFR mutation detection.

Methods: 651 chemonaive, cytologically or histologically verified advanced stage lung adenocarcinoma patients from Hungary, Turkey and Latvia were screened for exon19 microdeletions and exon21 L858R EGFR mutations using the companion diagnostic EGFR test.

Inhaled therapies in patients with moderate COPD in clinical practice: current thinking.

COPD is a complex, heterogeneous condition. Even in the early clinical stages, COPD carries a significant burden, with breathlessness frequently leading to a reduction in exercise capacity and changes that correlate with long-term patient outcomes and mortality. Implementation of an effective management strategy is required to reduce symptoms, preserve lung function, quality of life, and exercise capacity, and prevent exacerbations.

Phenotypes of COPD patients with a smoking history in Central and Eastern Europe: the POPE Study.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) represents a major health problem in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries; however, there are no data regarding clinical phenotypes of these patients in this region.Participation in the Phenotypes of COPD in Central and Eastern Europe (POPE) study was offered to stable patients with COPD in a real-life setting. The primary aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of phenotypes according to predefined criteria.

Relation of concavity in the expiratory flow-volume loop to dynamic hyperinflation during exercise in COPD.

Active expiration during exercise can increase intrathoracic pressure yielding concavity in the expiratory flow-volume loop in COPD. We investigated the relationship between this concavity and dynamic hyperinflation (DH). 17 COPD patients (FEV: 38±10%pred, GOLD stage 3-4) and 12 healthy subjects performed cycle ergometer incremental exercise.

[Interdisciplinary rehabilitation in patients with ankylosing spondylitis].

Introduction: Complex pulmonary assessment related to respiratory manifestation in patients with ankylosing spondylitis may contribute to adaptation of an appropriate rehabilitation program.

Aim: To examine the relationship between lung function, exercise physiological variables and change in quality of life after rehabilitation in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

Method: 5 patients in Seyfried's Stage 2 and 11 patients in Stage 3 underwent spinal physiotherapy, ultrasound, massage and paraffin Pack, 15 times each, followed by a high-intensity cycling 3 times a week for 8 weeks.

POPE study: rationale and methodology of a study to phenotype patients with COPD in Central and Eastern Europe.

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) constitutes a major health challenge in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. However, clinical phenotypes, symptom load, and treatment habits of patients with COPD in CEE countries remain largely unknown. This paper provides a rationale for phenotyping COPD and describes the methodology of a large study in CEE.

Pulmonary Arterial Pressure Response During Exercise in COPD: A Correlation with C-Reactive Protein (hsCRP).

Background: The non-invasive assessment of pulmonary haemodynamics during exercise provides complementary data for the evaluation of exercise tolerance in patients with COPD.

Methods: Exercise echocardiography in the semi-supine position was performed in 27 patients with COPD (C) with a forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) of 36±12% predicted and 13 age and gender-matched non-COPD subjects (NC). COPD patients also underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing with gas exchange detection (CPET).

A Newly Developed Sublingual Tonometric Method for the Evaluation of Tissue Perfusion and Its Validation In Vitro and in Healthy Persons In Vivo and the Results of the Measurements in COPD Patients.

Introduction. Since its first publication in the medical literature, an extremely large number of references have demonstrated that the tonometric measurement of tissue perfusion is a reliable indicator of the actual condition of critically ill patients. Later a new method was developed by the introduction of sublingual tonometry for the determination of tissue perfusion.

Randomized phase II study of carboplatin and etoposide with or without obatoclax mesylate in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.

Objective: This randomized phase II study assessed the efficacy and safety of obatoclax mesylate, a small-molecule Bcl-2 inhibitor, added to carboplatin/etoposide chemotherapy as initial treatment for extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC).

Materials And Methods: Chemotherapy-naïve subjects with ES-SCLC and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) 0-2 received carboplatin/etoposide with (CbEOb) or without (CbE) obatoclax for up to six cycles. Responders to CbEOb could receive maintenance obatoclax until disease progression.

Pulmonary epithelioid haemangioendothelioma studies in vitro and in vivo: new diagnostic and treatment methods.

Background: Pulmonary epithelioid haemangioendothelioma is a rare endothelial tumour without standard treatment. For this reason, our aim is to present contemporary research outlining new therapeutic possibilities; thus in vitro and in vivo methods were combined.

Patients And Methods: Pulmonary epithelioid haemangioendothelioma was diagnosed in a 49-year-old female patient.

A survey of the burden of allergic rhinitis in Hungary from a specialist's perspective.

Background: The casual and severity distribution of allergic rhinitis (AR) in Hungary is unknown.The aim of this survey was to evaluate symptom perception, disease severity, concomitant asthma frequency and the impact of AR on everyday life activities in a cross-sectional, multicenter study in Hungary under the supervision of Hungarian Respiratory Society.

Methods: Data were recorded by 933 AR patients (65.

[Primary pulmonary epitheloid haemangioendothelioma].

A 49-year-old female patient was admitted in July 2009 because of cough, weight loss and effort dyspnoe. Chest X-ray and CT showed multiple bilateral nodules which have been identified earlier and these nodules were unchanged. However, there was a new parenchymal lesion in the right upper lobe, and new right hilar and mediastinal lymphadenomegaly was also found.

Asthma and gastroesophageal reflux: clinical evaluation of esophago-bronchial reflex and proximal reflux.

Aims: To evaluate the prevalence of proximal reflux and esophago-bronchial reflex (EBR) in patients with asthma, and to compare the symptom spectrum, esophageal acid sensitivity, pH monitoring, and the endoscopic and manometric parameters of EBR-positive and -negative patients with asthma.

Patients And Methods: Forty-three consecutive patients with recent diagnoses of asthma and 20 patients with chronic cough but without asthma were prospectively submitted to detailed reflux and respiratory symptom analysis, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, esophageal manometry, Bernstein test and double-channel intra-esophageal pH monitoring. The presence of EBR was studied by combined esophageal acid (0.

Supervised high intensity continuous and interval training vs. self-paced training in COPD.

Background: Endurance training is an effective component of pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD. Controversy exists regarding whether different modalities of supervised exercise training (continuous (C) or interval (I)) or self-paced (S) programs are equally beneficial.

Methods: Seventy-one patients with COPD (average FEV(1)=55% predicted) were assigned to 8 weeks of C, I or S training, 45 min/session, 3 times/week.

[Primary lung cancer causing pulmonary artery microembolization and pulmonary hypertension].

The authors present a rare cause of pulmonary hypertension, which occurred in a 57-year-old woman. Postmortem examination discovered an adenocarcinoma with bronchioloalveolar growth pattern as a cause of severe dyspnoea, extreme pulmonary hypertension, and chronic cor pulmonale. The tumour involved all lobes of the lung.

[The effect of controlled and uncontrolled dynamic lower extremity training in the rehabilitation of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].

Unlabelled: Pulmonary rehabilitation has become a part of the integrated management of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The lower extremity dynamic training has been proved to be the most effective element of the program.

Objective: Does the supervised training have more favorable effect in case of similar program?

Patients And Methods: In two groups: 54 patients, supervised (group K, n = 22) and not supervised (group NK, n = 32) by physiotherapists, chosen at random have been investigated.

Exercise training decreases ventilatory requirements and exercise-induced hyperinflation at submaximal intensities in patients with COPD.

Study Objectives: We hypothesized that endurance exercise training would reduce the degree of hyperinflation for a given level of exercise and thereby improve submaximal exercise endurance.

Methods: Twenty-four patients with COPD (mean FEV(1), 36.4 +/- 8.

Effects of testosterone and resistance training in men with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Dysfunction of the muscles of ambulation contributes to exercise intolerance in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Men with COPD have high prevalence of low testosterone levels, which may contribute to muscle weakness. We determined effects of testosterone supplementation (100 mg of testosterone enanthate injected weekly) with or without resistance training (45 minutes three times weekly) on body composition and muscle function in 47 men with COPD (mean FEV(1) = 40% predicted) and low testosterone levels (mean = 320 ng/dl).

A treadmill ramp protocol using simultaneous changes in speed and grade.

Introduction: A treadmill exercise test requiring a low initial metabolic rate that then increments the work rate linearly to reach the subject's limit of tolerance in approximately 10 min would have significant advantages for exercise testing and rehabilitation of subjects with impaired exercise tolerance.

Methods: We developed such a treadmill protocol that uses a linear increase in walking speed coupled with a curvilinear increase in treadmill grade to yield a linear increase in work rate.

Results: Twenty-two healthy, sedentary subjects performed both this new treadmill protocol and a standard cycle ergometry ramp protocol eliciting similar work rate profiles.