[Renal cysts - A novel complication of crizotinib treatment for lung cancer].

We report the case of a woman with an ALK positive lung adenocarcinoma, who developed bilateral complex renal cysts 17 months after the introduction of treatment with crizotinib. Clinical investigation led to the conclusion that the cysts were due to anticancer drug. Regression of the renal cysts was observed one month after cessation of the crizotinib.

Advances in target therapy in lung cancer.

Herein, we have reviewed and analysed recent literature, published in 2013 and early 2014, in the context of pre-existing data. Considered target therapies were tyrosine kinase inhibitors of active epidermal growth factor receptor mutations (e.g.

Medical anticancer treatment of lung cancer associated with comorbidities: a review.

Comorbidities are frequent in patients with lung cancer, who are often treated with systemic anticancer therapy. The purpose of the present review is to report the adaptations recommended for the various drugs used in lung cancer treatment, in the context of a specific comorbidity. The literature was reviewed for neurologic, endocrine, hepatic, renal, digestive, cardiovascular, pulmonary, blood and systemic diseases.

Strategies for the empirical management of infection in cancer patients with emphasis on the emergence of resistant gram-negative bacteria.

Combinations of antibiotics (namely penicillins and aminoglycosides) have been advocated in the 1970s for the empirical therapy of FN in cancer patients in order to take advantage of the possible synergism between these agents and to extend the potential antimicrobial spectrum of empirical therapy. Later, with the development of potent broad spectrum antibiotics, the need for combinations became less obvious as monotherapy with these new agents appeared as effective and less toxic than previously used combinations. However, today we are facing a major challenge through the emergence of multi-resistant microrganisms.

Adverse events of targeted therapies.

Purpose Of Review: There is currently an explosion in the number of so-called targeted therapies. As new indications for these agents multiply, there is also an increase of new and less new side-effects.

Recent Findings: Given this rapidly evolving field, any literature on that topic is rapidly obsolete and needs re-evaluation.

[Identification of occupational exposure in thoracic oncology: a Belgian experience].

Introduction: In Belgium in 2008, the body responsible for compensating and indemnifying victims of occupational diseases recognized 62 cases of lung cancer, although 702 cases were expected. There is an "underreporting" of occupational lung cancer. This study aimed to assess the number of cases of occupational lung cancer in a Belgian hospital specialized in oncology.

Updates in oncology.

The objective of this review is to report the Clinical Year in Review proceedings in the field of thoracic oncology that were presented at the 2013 European Respiratory Society Annual Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Various topics were reviewed, including: epidemiology, screening, histology, and treatment of nonsmall cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer.

The Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) risk index score: 10 years of use for identifying low-risk febrile neutropenic cancer patients.

The Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer risk index score developed, through a multinational collaboration, was published in 2000 with the aim to identify patients with chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia at low risk of serious medical complication development. It has been endorsed as a reliable tool since 2002 by Infectious Diseases Society of America. Ten years after, we thought worth to review its use, its characteristics in the external validations that occurred after the initial publication and also to review how the recognition of a group of patients at low risk has changed the management of febrile neutropenia.

[A rare cause of superior vena cava syndrome].

A 85-year old patient with an history of low grade follicular lymphoma was admitted in the hospital with a superior vena cava (SVC) syndrome. The computed tomography scan of the thorax and the trans-esophageal echocardiography revealed a voluminous mass in the right atrium, extending to the origin of the SVC. A transvenous biopsy was done under echocardiographic control.

Surrogate markers predicting overall survival for lung cancer: ELCWP recommendations.

The present systematic review was performed under the auspices of the European Lung Cancer Working Party (ELCWP) in order to determine the role of early intermediate criteria (surrogate markers), instead of survival, in determining treatment efficacy in patients with lung cancer. Initially, the level of evidence for the use of overall survival to evaluate treatment efficacy was reviewed. Nine questions were then formulated by the ELCWP.

Invasive mechanical ventilation in cancer patients. Prior non invasive ventilation is a poor prognostic factor.

Purpose: Prior non invasive ventilation (NIV) is associated with an increased mortality in patients with haematological malignancies and acute respiratory failure treated by invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). We have assessed whether NIV failure is an independent prognostic factor for hospital discharge in a general cancer population treated by IMV.

Methods: 106 patients with solid tumors and 58 patients with haematological malignancies were eligible for this retrospective study; 41 were treated by NIV before IMV.

Milestones in the use of chemotherapy for the management of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

NSCLC, a tobacco-caused disease which is therefore highly preventable, is responsible for about 30% of all cancer deaths. Improvements in terms of survival have been overall disappointing. A major advance has been the demonstration of the value of platinum-based chemotherapy, not only for advanced disease, but also in the adjuvant and neoadjuvant settings.

[Conflicts of interest: a concept often (voluntary) ignored by physicians].

A conflict of interest is a delicate situation where a person with a confidence role like a physician has professional or personal interests competing with the mission he/she has received, making him difficult to perform his/her duty with impartiality. Commercial or financial conflicts of interest of a physician can be personal and direct (gifts, travels, honoraries, consultant fees, etc.) or indirect (in relationship with those of the family or of the institution).