Joint Statement of the German Respiratory Society and German Society of Thoracic Surgery in Cooperation with the German Radiological Society: Structural Prerequisites of Centres for Interventional Treatment of Emphysema.

Interventional treatment of emphysema offers a wide range of surgical and endoscopic options for patients with advanced disease. Multidisciplinary collaboration of pulmonology, thoracic surgery, and imaging disciplines in patient selection, therapy, and follow-up ensures treatment quality. The present joint statement describes the required structural and quality prerequisites of treatment centres.

A subgroup of pleural mesothelioma expresses ALK protein and may be targetable by combined rapamycin and crizotinib therapy.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a neoplasm with inferior prognosis and notorious chemotherapeutic resistance. Targeting aberrantly overexpressed kinases to cure MPM is a promising therapeutic strategy. Here, we examined ALK, MET and mTOR as potential therapeutic targets and determined the combinatorial efficacy of ALK and mTOR targeting on tumor cell growth .

Is Mistletoe Treatment Beneficial in Invasive Breast Cancer? A New Approach to an Unresolved Problem.

Background/aim: In this retrospective study, we compared breast cancer patients treated with and without mistletoe lectin I (ML-I) in addition to standard breast cancer treatment in order to determine a possible effect of this complementary treatment.

Patients And Methods: This study included 18,528 patients with invasive breast cancer. Data on additional ML-I treatments were reported for 164 patients.

Bronchial Artery Embolization in Hemoptysis: 10-Year Survival and Recurrence-Free Survival in Benign and Malignant Etiologies - A Retrospective Study.

The aim of the study was to evaluate safety, effectiveness, recurrence rate and 10-year survival after bronchial artery embolization (BAE) in benign and malignant etiologies. The retrospective study includes 100 BAE procedures in 88 patients. Underlying disease was classified as benign (n = 67) and malignant (n = 21) etiologies.

The Severe Respiratory Insufficiency Questionnaire for Subjects With COPD With Long-Term Oxygen Therapy.

Background: Respiratory insufficiency in COPD may present as hypoxic and/or hypercapnic respiratory failure treated with long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) and/or noninvasive ventilation (NIV) with LTOT. The Severe Respiratory Insufficiency Questionnaire (SRI) is a tool for the assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in subjects receiving NIV. However, it remains unclear whether the SRI is also capable of assessing and discriminating HRQOL in subjects receiving LTOT.

A novel, highly sensitive ALK antibody 1A4 facilitates effective screening for ALK rearrangements in lung adenocarcinomas by standard immunohistochemistry.

Introduction: Successful treatment of lung cancer patients with crizotinib depends on the accurate diagnosis of anaplastic lymphoma receptor tyrosine kinase (ALK) gene rearrangements. The approved fluorescence in-situ hybridization test is complex and difficult to use in daily diagnostic practice. Immunohistochemical assays-rapid and perfectly adapted for routine pathology practice-have been proposed as alternatives.

Prolonged paradoxical reaction to anti-tuberculous treatment after discontinuation of TNF-alpha- blocker therapy with adalimumab. Rare clinical documentation.

In the past decades, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) antagonist has been a milestone in the treatment of many chronic inflammatory diseases. TNF antagonist can increase patients' susceptibility to many different kinds of infections especially those requiring granuloma formations despite regular performance of Screening for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). We report 2 cases of patients who developed tuberculosis under treatment with adalimumab, which was discontinued after the diagnosis of tuberculosis.

Pulmonary adenocarcinoma occurring 5 years after resection of a primary pancreatic adenocarcinoma: a relevant differential diagnosis.

Ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas is a lethal disease. Surgical extirpation only offers the slim chance for long-term survival in localized disease. We report on a 73 year old female patient who initially underwent successful resection of pancreatic adenocarcinoma in May 2005.

Detection of rearrangements and transcriptional up-regulation of ALK in FFPE lung cancer specimens using a novel, sensitive, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assay.

Introduction: The approved dual-color fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) test for the detection of anaplastic lymphoma receptor tyrosine kinase (ALK) gene rearrangements in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is complex and represents a low-throughput assay difficult to use in daily diagnostic practice. We devised a sensitive and robust routine diagnostic test for the detection of rearrangements and transcriptional up-regulation of ALK.

Methods: We developed a quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assay adapted to RNA isolated from routine formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded material and applied it to 652 NSCLC specimens.

Lung metastasis of primary alveolar soft-part sarcoma occurring 20 years after initial treatment.

A 30-year old woman was referred to our center because of suspicion of a primary lung tumor of the right upper lobe. Histological examination of the lung lesion revealed lung metastasis of a previously treated alveolar soft part sarcoma of the musculus vastus medialis of the right femur, which was resected 20 years ago. Alveolar soft-part sarcoma is a rare malignant tumor that occurs most often in the soft tissue of lower limbs.

Primary pulmonary synovial sarcoma: a rare primary pulmonary tumor.

Introduction: Pulmonary sarcomas overall are very uncommon and comprise only 0.5 % of all primary lung malignancies. The diagnosis is established only after sarcoma-like primary lung malignancies and a metastatic extrathoracic sarcoma have been excluded.

Severe Emphysema Treated by Endoscopic Bronchial Volume Reduction with Lung Sealant (AeriSeal).

Endoscopic lung volume reduction using lung sealant is a very new and innovative treatment option for patients with severe progressive and irreversible lung emphysema. A 55-year-old ex-smoker (60 pack years) referred to our center because of severe lung emphysema with progressive worsening of the obstructive ventilator pattern and clinical condition. We detected collateral channels of this patient by using the Chartis system.

Late lung metastasis of a primary eccrine sweat gland carcinoma 10 years after initial surgical treatment: the first clinical documentation.

Background. Sweat gland carcinoma is a rare malignancy with a high metastatic potential seen more commonly in elderly patients. The scalp is the most common site of occurrence and it usually spreads to regional lymph nodes.

Pleural mesothelioma presenting as periumbilical metastasis: the first clinical documentation.

Introduction. Pleural mesothelioma with metastasis to the subcutaneous tissue of the abdominal wall at first diagnosis and without penetration into the peritoneum is an extremely rare clinical presentation. Methods.

Pulmonary leiomyosarcoma mimicking glomus tumor at first biopsy and surgically treated with isolated left main bronchus resection: rare clinical documentation.

Soft tissue tumors originating within the endobronchial tree are extremely rare and most of them correspond to lipomas or leiomyomas. We here report a rare clinical presentation of leiomyosarcoma mimicking glomus tumor at initial biopsy arising from the left main bronchial trunk leading to left lower lobe atelectasis. Primary leiomyosarcoma of the lung is an unusual malignancy.

Treatment of severe advanced emphysema with volume reduction using lung sealant: a case report of 2 patients.

Background: Emphysema is a progressive and irreversible disease for which there is no cure to date. The patients experience debilitating shortness of breath with repetitive exacerbations and poor quality of daily life. At present, patients with severe emphysema have limited treatment options.

Efficacy of roflumilast in the COPD frequent exacerbator phenotype.

Background: COPD exacerbations are associated with increased morbidity and mortality and can accelerate disease progression. The best predictor of future exacerbations is a history of previous exacerbations, which helps identify a frequent exacerbator phenotype. This post hoc analysis evaluated the effect of roflumilast, a drug known to reduce the COPD exacerbation rate, on exacerbation status.

Can anti-IgE therapy prevent airway remodeling in allergic asthma?

Airway remodeling is a central feature of asthma. It is exemplified by thickening of the lamina reticularis and structural changes to the epithelium, submucosa, smooth muscle, and vasculature of the airway wall. Airway remodeling may result from persistent airway inflammation.

Successful use of DPI systems in asthmatic patients--key parameters.

Effective inhalation therapy using pressurised metered dose inhalers (pMDIs) and dry powder inhalers (DPIs) is the cornerstone of asthma management. Previous studies have demonstrated difficulties in the usage of pMDIs in certain patient groups, especially as pMDis require the co-ordination of inhaler activation with dose inhalation. Almost all DPIs are breath-activated and preclude the need to co-ordinate activation with inspiration.

Factor analysis of changes in dyspnea and lung function parameters after bronchodilation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Expiratory airway collapse is a characteristic feature in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We hypothesized that this collapse might mask the effects of bronchodilators during forced expiration but not during forced inspiration, and that accordingly, the improvement in forced inspiration and not that in forced expiration with bronchodilator therapy would be related to changes in the perception of dyspnea. In order to investigate this, we conducted lung function measurements, including measurements of forced inspiration and expiration before and 30 min after inhalation of 400 microg salbutamol, in 61 patients with COPD (mean FEV(1): 38.