Identifying Early Predictive Markers for Immune-Related Adverse Events in Nivolumab-Treated Patients with Renal Cell Carcinoma and Gastric Cancer.

Background: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte (PLR) ratios can indicate poor disease prognosis and are inflammation markers. We investigated the role of NLR and PLR as effective predictive markers of immune-related adverse event (irAE) onset in patients treated with nivolumab.

Methods: We retrospectively analysed 73 gastric and renal cancer patients treated with nivolumab at the Hokkaido Cancer Centre from January 2017 to June 2020.

Pulmonary vessels and bronchus anatomy of the left upper lobe.

Purposes: The bronchopulmonary vascular bifurcation patterns in the upper lobe of the left lung are diverse. Therefore, it is important for general thoracic surgeons to understand the detailed anatomy of the pulmonary segments when performing thoracoscopic anatomical pulmonary resection. This study aimed to analyze the bronchovascular patterns of the left upper lobe and summarize the anatomical information associated with pulmonary anatomical pulmonary resection.

Deciphering the clinical features of heterogeneous stage III non-small cell lung cancer in Japanese real-world clinical practice: Expanded cohort of the SOLUTION study.

Objectives: To evaluate the actual treatment patterns with respective outcomes and the patient characteristics of stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in Japan.

Materials And Methods: Patients (aged ≥20 years at diagnosis) who were diagnosed with stage III NSCLC between January 2013 and December 2014 and underwent surgery, chemoradiotherapy (CRT), chemotherapy (CT), or radiotherapy (RT) at 11 institutions in Japan were consecutively registered in this retrospective, observational study (SOLUTION; UMIN000031385). Study measures included patient characteristics, first-line treatments, overall survival (OS), progression-free survival, objective response rate, and incidence of radiation-related adverse events.

Phase II study of carboplatin-paclitaxel alone or with bevacizumab in advanced sarcomatoid carcinoma of the lung: HOT1201/NEJ024.

Objectives: Only a few prospective studies have been conducted to examine the efficacy and safety of systemic chemotherapy for patients with pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinomas (PSCs). There is, thus, a crucial need to develop novel treatment strategies for this rare tumor.

Patients And Methods: Chemotherapy-naïve patients with histologically confirmed PSCs were assigned to receive either carboplatin/paclitaxel alone (CP) or with bevacizumab (CPB) followed by bevacizumab maintenance.

The volume of proximal bone projection can determine the osseous contour after immediate implant placement and guided bone regeneration in severe labial bony deficiency.

Anterior immediate implant placement (IIP) has many biological and esthetic challenges, including inevitable soft and hard tissue loss after extraction. Previous literatures have discussed the facial bone architecture and defective socket classification. However, none of them discussed the depression of the cervical root area which can be seen frequently after IIP in type IIB and U-shaped defective sockets.

Outcomes of bacillus Calmette-Guérin therapy without a maintenance schedule for high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer in the second transurethral resection era.

Objectives: We examined the outcomes of eight weekly bacillus Calmette-Guérin induction therapy after second transurethral resection, and investigated risk factors for intravesical recurrence or disease progression in high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients.

Methods: This retrospective study included 146 high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients who received eight weekly bacillus Calmette-Guérin instillations without a maintenance schedule between 2000 and 2019. Intravesical recurrence-free and progression-free survival rates were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

Clinical relevance of addition of conventional treatment to concurrent chemoradiotherapy in patients with FIGO stage III-IV cervical cancer: a retrospective analysis of a Japanese cohort.

Background: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy has limited therapeutic efficacy for stage III-IV cervical cancer. We aimed to identify a subgroup of patients with stage III-IV cervical cancer who benefit from concurrent chemoradiotherapy with additional treatment.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 120 patients with stage III-IV cervical cancer who were treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy from 2002 to 2018.

Pharmacokinetic and pharmacogenomic analysis of low-dose afatinib treatment in elderly patients with EGFR mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: An increasing number of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cases are being reported in the ageing population. However, studies on the use of afatinib in elderly patients are scarce. We conducted a prospective multicentre, single-arm, and open-label phase II trial for low-dose afatinib (30 mg/day) use in elderly patients with NSCLC with EGFR mutation to assess quality-of-life (QOL) and pharmacokinetic (PK)/pharmacogenomic (PGx) parameters.

First-line osimertinib in elderly patients with epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated advanced non-small cell lung cancer: a retrospective multicenter study (HOT2002).

Osimertinib is a standard of care therapy for previously untreated epidermal growth factor receptor mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer. However, limited data exist regarding the efficacy and safety of osimertinib as a first-line therapy for elderly patients aged 75 years or older. To assess the potential clinical benefits of osimertinib in this population, this retrospective multi-institutional observational study included 132 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (age ≥ 75 years), who received osimertinib as first-line treatment.

Anatomy of the left subsuperior segment for segmentectomy.

Purpose: The subsuperior segmental bronchi (B*) forms the subsuperior segment (S*) between the superior (S) and basal segment (S, S, S, S) of the lung. However, the anatomical planes of S* remains undefined. The present study clarified the anatomical features of S*.

Risk factors for atelectasis of the middle lobe after right upper lobectomy: preoperative bronchial diameter and stapling of the fissure.

Background: Atelectasis of the middle lobe after right upper lobectomy is often seen. However, the risk factors for atelectasis are uncertain. Therefore, we assessed cases in our institution and investigated risk factors for atelectasis of the middle lobe following right upper lobectomy.

Non-age-related neoplastic loss of sex chromosome correlated with prolonged survival in real-world CBF-AML patients.

In this real-world clinical study, in which we determined eligibility for allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation by prognostic factors and minimal residual disease status, we retrospectively evaluated cytogenetic, genetic, and clinical features in 96 patients with core-binding factor acute myeloid leukemia (CBF-AML) including 62 patients with RUNX1/RUNX1T1 and 34 patients with CBFβ/MYH11. Multivariate analyses for 5-year overall survival (OS) in CBF-AML patients revealed that age of 50 years or older (HR: 3.46, 95% CI 1.

Simple lung retraction method for uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.

In conventional multiportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, devices such as cotton-tipped applicators are used instead of graspers to avoid injuring the fragile lung tissue while stabilizing the lung and securing the surgical visual field. However, in uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, which requires the simultaneous use of multiple instruments, the instruments tend to interfere with each other during the procedure because they share a single incisional port. Here, we describe a simple, easy and cost-effective lung retraction technique using cotton swabs to solve the problem.

Osimertinib in poor performance status patients with T790M-positive advanced non-small-cell lung cancer after progression of first- and second-generation EGFR-TKI treatments (NEJ032B).

Background: Osimertinib is effective in patients with T790M mutation-positive advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) resistant to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). However, its effectiveness and safety in patients with poor performance status (PS) are unknown.

Methods: Enrolled patients showed disease progression after treatment with gefitinib, erlotinib, or afatinib; T790M mutation; stage IIIB, IV, or recurrent disease; and PS of 2-4.

F-FDG-PET/CT as an imaging biomarker for regorafenib efficacy in metastatic colorectal cancer (JACCRO CC-12).

Introduction: Regorafenib is a multikinase inhibitor approved for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Despite providing a statistically significant survival benefit, a substantial number of patients fail to respond to or continue with treatment, which has resulted in an unmet clinical need for a biomarker of regorafenib efficacy.

Methods: The JACCRO CC-12 study was a prospective, multicenter, single-arm phase II trial designed to evaluate the usefulness of [F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) as an imaging biomarker of regorafenib in patients with mCRC that progressed after standard chemotherapies.

Phase 2 Study of YS110, a Recombinant Humanized Anti-CD26 Monoclonal Antibody, in Japanese Patients With Advanced Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma.

Introduction: YS110, a humanized monoclonal antibody with a high affinity to CD26, exhibited promising antitumor activity and was generally well-tolerated in the phase 1 part of a phase 1 and 2 Japanese trial in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). Here we report the results of the phase 2 part of the study.

Methods: The patients included were aged 20 years and older, had histologically confirmed MPM, were refractory to or intolerant of existing antineoplastic agents, and were not candidates for standard therapy.

Japanese Lung Cancer Society Guidelines for Stage IV NSCLC With Mutations.

Patients with NSCLC in East Asia, including Japan, frequently contain mutations. In 2018, we published the latest full clinical practice guidelines on the basis of those provided by the Japanese Lung Cancer Society Guidelines Committee. The purpose of this study was to update those recommendations, especially for the treatment of metastatic or recurrent -mutated NSCLC.

Prognostic significance of OX40 lymphocytes in tumor stroma of surgically resected small-cell lung cancer.

OX40 (CD134) is a co-stimulatory molecule mostly expressed on activated T lymphocytes. Previous reports have shown that OX40 can be an immuno-oncology target and a clinical biomarker for cancers of various organs. In this study, we collected formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor samples from 124 patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) who had undergone surgery.

A Phase II, Randomized, Open-Label, Multi-arm Study of TAS-115 for Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Patients With Bone Metastases.

Introduction: TAS-115 is an oral multikinase inhibitor targeting the MET proto-oncogene, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor, and colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of TAS-115 in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients with bone metastases.

Patients And Methods: This phase II study, conducted in Japan, comprised 2 cohorts of CRPC patients.