Nationwide prospective registry database of patients with newly diagnosed untreated pleural mesothelioma in Japan.

Due to the scarcity of large-sized prospective databases, the Japanese Joint Committee for Lung Cancer Registry conducted a nationwide prospective registry for newly diagnosed and untreated pleural mesothelioma. All new cases diagnosed pathologically as any subtype of pleural mesothelioma in Japan during the period between April 1, 2017, to March 31, 2019, were included before treatment. Data on survival were collected in April 2021.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma in situ.

Although the diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma at an in situ stage was traditionally challenging, it is now possible owing to advances in molecular biological methods such as P16 fluorescence in situ hybridization or BRCA1-associated protein 1 immunohistochemistry. Here, we report the first case, to our knowledge, of total parietal pleurectomy for mesothelioma in situ. Future follow-up and accumulation of cases are necessary to determine whether total parietal pleurectomy could be applied as a treatment for mesothelioma in situ or not.

Impact of the first surge of the coronavirus disease pandemic on general thoracic surgery practices in Kanagawa: a questionnaire survey by the Kanagawa General Thoracic Surgical Study Group.

Objectives: The first surge in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection had a significant impact on health care institutions. Understanding how the pandemic affected general thoracic surgery would provide valuable data for establishing a health care protocol for upcoming surges.

Methods: A questionnaire survey on coronavirus disease-related patient statistics and health care was conducted between February 2020 and June 2020 across 14 facilities affiliated with the Kanagawa General Thoracic Surgery Study Group.

A prophylaxis study of acute exacerbation of interstitial pneumonia after lung cancer surgery.

Introduction: Acute exacerbation of interstitial pneumonia (AE-IP) is a lethal complication after lung surgery. We conducted a prospective, multi-institutional phase II trial to assess the efficacy and safety of prophylactic measures.

Method: Patients with lung cancer with dorsal subpleural fibrotic changes occupying three or more segments of both lower lobes and planned anatomical lung resection were enrolled.

Prospective registry database of patients with malignant mesothelioma: directions for a future Japanese registry-based lung cancer study.

Background: The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, in collaboration with members of the International Mesothelioma Interest Group (IMIG), developed a large international database and TNM-based system to study malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). However, this database has some limitations since it was a retrospective study and it was based predominantly on surgical cases. The Japanese Joint Committee of Lung Cancer Registry (JJCLCR) employs a project of prospective registry database of patients in Japan with MPM in order to clarify MPM's epidemiology, current management practices, and prognosis and also to investigate the potential capabilities to target the best patients for therapy.

HEG1 is a novel mucin-like membrane protein that serves as a diagnostic and therapeutic target for malignant mesothelioma.

The absence of highly specific markers for malignant mesothelioma (MM) has served an obstacle for its diagnosis and development of molecular-targeting therapy against MM. Here, we show that a novel mucin-like membrane protein, sialylated protein HEG homolog 1 (HEG1), is a highly specific marker for MM. A monoclonal antibody against sialylated HEG1, SKM9-2, can detect even sarcomatoid and desmoplastic MM.

Thoracoscopic lobectomy for lung cancer in a patient with a partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection: a case report.

Background: A partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection is a rare congenital defect in which blood from the pulmonary vein is returned to the right atrium. Asymptomatic patients with a partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection with a small left-to-right shunt do not require surgical treatment. If such patients require a major lung resection, the surgical procedure could precipitate fetal right heart failure if the anomalous venous connection remains uncorrected.

Influence of visceral pleural invasion on survival in completely resected non-small-cell lung cancer.

Objectives: Although the prognostic implications of visceral pleural invasion (VPI) are well established, it remains controversial whether the extent of VPI affects survival in patients with completely resected non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In addition, the impact of VPI according to nodal status is unclear. We evaluated the influence of the extent of pleural invasion on survival by analysing a multicentre retrospective database of patients who had undergone surgery for NSCLC.

[Three cases of pulmonary hamartoma appearing after radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma].

We report 3 patients with pulmonary hamartoma, all of whom had undergone nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma. A lung tumor was detected 2 to 9-months following nephrectomy. Preoperative diagnosis was pulmonary metastasis from renal cell carcinoma and pulmonary tumor resection was performed in each case.