Publications by authors named "Toyokawa G"

Objectives: Spread through air spaces (STAS) is considered a poor prognostic factor in patients with resected non-small lung cell cancer; however, the clinical significance of STAS extent remains unclear. We hypothesized that the further the tumour cells spread from the tumour edge, the worse the prognosis becomes.

Methods: This study retrospectively reviewed the data of 642 patients with completely resected pathological stage I-III non-small lung cell cancer between 2008 and 2018.

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  • - Bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) is a serious complication after lung transplants that affects long-term survival, and this study explores the role of EZH2 in BOS.
  • - The research involved administering a drug called 3-deazaneplanocin A (DZNep) to mice with transplanted tracheas, showing that DZNep significantly reduced obstruction ratios and levels of various inflammatory cytokines at different time points.
  • - Results indicated that DZNep treatment decreased T-cell infiltration and inflammatory responses, suggesting its potential as a therapy to mitigate BOS symptoms post-lung transplantation.
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Introduction: Platinum-based chemotherapy is the mainstay of first-line therapy for advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Although carboplatin-induced hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs) commonly occur following multiple cycles of therapy, they are rarely observed during the first cycle of the treatment.

Case Report: Here, we report the case of a 70-year-old man with advanced-stage NSCLC who developed HSR possibly caused by carboplatin during the first cycle of induction with platinum-doublet chemotherapy plus pembrolizumab.

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  • * A study identified that hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase 1 (HPRT1) helps SCLC cells survive in low-glutamine environments, indicating its role in cancer progression.
  • * Combining HPRT1 inhibition with other drugs targeting purine synthesis pathways showed significant tumor suppression in mouse models, suggesting a promising new therapeutic strategy for SCLC.
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Background: Immunotherapy has become a standard-of-care for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Although several biomarkers, such as programmed cell death-1, have been shown to be useful in selecting patients likely to benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), more useful and reliable ones should be investigated. The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) is a marker of the immune and nutritional status of the host, and is derived from serum albumin level and peripheral lymphocyte count.

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The identification of actionable targets in oncogene-addicted non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has fueled biomarker-directed strategies, especially in advanced stage disease. Despite the undeniable success of molecular targeted therapies, duration of clinical response is relatively short-lived. While extraordinary efforts have defined the complexity of tumor architecture and clonal evolution at the genetic level, not equal interest has been given to the dynamic mechanisms of phenotypic adaptation engaged by cancer during treatment.

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  • The study examines delayed chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in non-small cell lung cancer patients receiving carboplatin-based treatments.
  • The research involved pooling data from two studies and found that a three-antiemetic regimen was more effective in controlling nausea and vomiting compared to a two-antiemetic regimen.
  • Key risk factors for increased CINV included younger age, female sex, specific chemotherapy regimens, and certain lifestyle habits, suggesting that additional antiemetic support may benefit these patients.
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Introduction: The albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade is a novel indicator of the liver function. Some studies showed that the ALBI grade was a prognostic and predictive biomarker for the efficacy of chemotherapy in cancer patients. The association between the ALBI grade and outcomes in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with cancer immunotherapy, however, is poorly understood.

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Introduction: Several immunonutritional supplements have recently been developed. However, improvements in preoperative immunonutritional conditions using these supplements have not been analyzed in patients undergoing thoracic surgery.

Methods: This prospective, single-arm, single-institution pilot study involved patients planning to undergo thoracic surgery.

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Background: Robot-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS) lobectomy for lung cancer is now performed all around the world. The camera and robotic devices are generally inserted from a low position via the thorax. We previously reported our original anterior approach (AA) for performing RATS lobectomy with a camera and robotic devices inserted via the anterior chest wall.

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Objectives: The ground-glass component of part-solid tumour (PST) was eliminated as a clinical T (cT) descriptor in the eighth edition of the tumour, node and metastasis (TNM) staging system. We aimed to validate the new cT descriptor and investigate the prognostic impact of PST in the new staging system.

Methods: Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients (n = 1061) who underwent lung resection and were available for the assessment of thin-section computed tomography images were retrospectively reviewed.

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Molecular drugs targeting mutated or rearranged oncogene drivers have become one of the standard recognized treatments in patients with advanced and recurrent non-small cell lung cancer. is located in the long arm of human chromosome 10 and encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase protein, and RET fusion-positive lung adenocarcinoma occurs in 1%-2% of cases. Clinical trials of multikinase inhibitors, including cabozantinib, vandetanib, sorafenib, and lenvatinib, that inhibit RET oncogene activity have shown their antitumor efficacy.

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Background: Preoperative nutritional status is an important host-related prognostic factor for non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC); however, the significance of postoperative changes in nutritional status remains unclear. This study aimed to elucidate the significance of postoperative decreases in serum albumin (ΔAlb) on the outcomes of early-stage NSCLC.

Methods: We analyzed 443 training cohort (TC) and 642 validation cohort (VC) patients with pStage IA NSCLC who underwent surgery and did not recur within 1 year.

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Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized the treatment of advanced or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). They cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs), but the underlying mechanisms and predictors remain to be fully elucidated. In this retrospective study, we investigated the association between pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the occurrence of irAEs.

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  • Researchers studied squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) using RNA sequencing and TCGA data to identify potential driver oncogenes.
  • Out of 46 samples from 23 patients analyzed, 188 candidate oncogenes were found, with SLC38A7 being highlighted as a strong prognostic marker linked to poor survival outcomes.
  • The findings suggest that SLC38A7, a key transporter for glutamine in cancer cells, could be targeted for developing new therapies for SCC.
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Immune checkpoint inhibitors with chemotherapy have been shown to exhibit remarkable efficacy for advanced non-small-cell lung carcinoma and are under investigation as an induction therapy. However, the significance of preoperative therapy with pembrolizumab + chemotherapy for surgically resectable non-small-cell lung carcinoma still remains unclear. Here, we report a case of stage IIIB non-small-cell lung carcinoma that underwent salvage surgery after three cycles of pembrolizumab + carboplatin + nab-paclitaxel.

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Introduction: Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitors are widely known to contribute to the long-term survival of -rearranged non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Based on clinical trial data, treatment with second- or third-generation ALK inhibitors can be initiated after crizotinib therapy without analyzing resistance mechanisms, and some randomized trials have recently shown the superiority of second- or third-generation ALK inhibitors over crizotinib as the initial treatment; however, the optimal treatment for patients who relapse while on second- or third-generation ALK inhibitors is not well-defined.

Areas Covered: This review provides an overview of the mechanisms of resistance to second- or third-generation ALK inhibitors that have been identified in both clinical and pre-clinical settings, and introduces strategies for overcoming resistance and discusses ongoing clinical trials.

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Aims: Dedifferentiation is a histological phenomenon characterised by abrupt transition of histology to a sarcomatous component with high-grade malignant potential in solitary fibrous tumour (SFT). The authors histologically reviewed SFT cases to reveal the histological background of dedifferentiated SFTs.

Methods: Clinicopathological and histopathological findings of 145 SFT cases were reviewed.

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The incidence of central nervous system (CNS) metastases in patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) fusion gene-positive (ALK+) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is high, ranging from approximately 20%-70%. Although ALK inhibitors (ALKis) are generally effective for CNS metastases in patients with ALK+ NSCLC, relapse with CNS metastases is frequently observed. A 37-year-old woman with a high level of carcinoembryonic antigen was diagnosed with right lung adenocarcinoma (pathological stage IIIA) and underwent right lower lobectomy.

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The differentiation between major histological types of lung cancer, such as adenocarcinoma (ADC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is of crucial importance for determining optimum cancer treatment. Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E)-stained slides of small transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) are one of the primary sources for making a diagnosis; however, a subset of cases present a challenge for pathologists to diagnose from H&E-stained slides alone, and these either require further immunohistochemistry or are deferred to surgical resection for definitive diagnosis. We trained a deep learning model to classify H&E-stained Whole Slide Images of TBLB specimens into ADC, SCC, SCLC, and non-neoplastic using a training set of 579 WSIs.

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Background/aim: Albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade is an indicator of liver dysfunction and is useful for predicting postoperative prognosis of hepatocellular carcinomas. However, the significance of ALBI grade in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) has not been elucidated.

Patients And Methods: We analyzed 947 patients with pStage IA-IIIA NSCLC.

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Background: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition plays a crucial role in cancer progression and is a significant prognosticator for postoperative survival in patients with lung cancer. Predicting epithelial-mesenchymal transition preoperatively using computed tomography may help to determine the optimal surgical strategy.

Methods: We performed an immunohistochemical analysis of E-cadherin and vimentin expressions using tumor specimens from resected primary lung adenocarcinoma and classified the results into 3 subgroups according to the expressions: epithelial, intermediate, and mesenchymal.

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We describe a rare case of newly discovered pulmonary metastases and surgical confirmation 12 years after initial surgery for a pheochromocytoma. A 61-year-old asymptomatic man was referred because of an abnormal shadow in the right lung field upon chest radiography. Computed tomography (CT) showed two well-demarcated tumors in the basal segment of the right lung.

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Background: Mps one binder kinase activator 1 (MOB1) is a core component of the Hippo signaling pathway and has been implicated as a tumor suppressor. Here, we evaluated the possible relationship of MOB1 expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to prognosis.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 205 lung adenocarcinoma patients treated at Kyushu University Hospital between November 2007 and October 2012.

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Introduction: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) manifests high-grade neuroendocrine features, and the transcription factors ASCL1 and NEUROD1 play an important role in the survival and growth as well as contribute to the heterogeneity of SCLC cells. The relative abundance of ASCL1 and NEUROD1 mRNAs differs among human SCLC cell lines, but the expression pattern of the encoded proteins in clinical SCLC specimens and its relation to clinicopathologic characteristics of patients have been unclear.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed tumor specimens collected from 95 previously untreated SCLC patients between June 1988 and December 2017 for ASCL1 and NEUROD1 expression by immunohistochemical staining.

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