Prognostic Factors for Patients with Small-Cell Lung Cancer Treated with Chemoimmunotherapy: A Retrospective Multicenter Study.

Background: This study aimed to investigate prognostic factors for predicting the survival of patients with extensive-disease-stage small-cell lung cancer treated with chemoimmunotherapy.

Methods: Patients were classified according to overall survival (OS): favorable corresponded to an OS ≥ 24 months, moderate corresponded to an OS of 6-24 months, and poor corresponded to an OS < 6 months. Multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate prognostic factors.

Abnormal saturated fatty acids and sphingolipids metabolism in asthma.

Recent advances in fatty acid analysis have highlighted the links between lipid disruption and disease development. Lipid abnormalities are well-established risk factors for many of the most common chronic illnesses, and their involvement in asthma is also becoming clear. Here, we review research demonstrating the role of abnormal lipid metabolism in asthma, with a focus on saturated fatty acids and sphingolipids.

The primary ciliary dyskinesia-related genetic risk score is associated with susceptibility to adult-onset asthma.

Background: Disturbance of mucociliary clearance is an important factor in the pathogenesis of asthma. We hypothesized that common variants in genes responsible for ciliary function may contribute to the development of asthma with certain phenotypes.

Methods: Three independent adult Japanese populations (including a total of 1,158 patients with asthma and 2,203 non-asthmatic healthy participants) were studied.

In-depth proteomics reveals the characteristic developmental profiles of early lung adenocarcinoma with epidermal growth factor receptor mutation.

Introduction: Lung adenocarcinoma progresses stepwise from atypical adenomatous hyperplasia to adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS), followed by minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA), and then obvious invasive adenocarcinoma. In this study, we examined the protein expression profiles of early and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation-positive lung adenocarcinomas.

Methods: Fifteen cases of small and EGFR mutation-positive adenocarcinomas were collected, including AIS, MIA, and small invasive adenocarcinoma (SIA).

Usefulness of malignant pleural effusion for early cytological diagnosis of mesothelioma : A case report.

Mesothelioma (MIS) is defined as a preinvasive mesothelioma that forms a single layer of mild atypical mesothelial cells lining on the serosa surface of pleura. The atypical mesothelial cells present loss of BRCA-1 associated protein-1 (BAP-1) and/or methylthioadenosine phosphorylase as examined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and/or homozygous deletion of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A/p16 as examined by fluorescence hybridization. It is difficult to diagnose because of the unremarkable clinical findings except for pleural effusion.

Impact of sleep-related hypoventilation in patients with pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis.

Background: Pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis (PPFE) is a rare fibrosing lung disease with a predilection for the upper lobe and its progression causes hypoventilation, resulting in hypercapnia. Even though the association between sleep-related hypoventilation (SRH) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was well documented, its impact in patients with PPFE was not evaluated. The aim of this study is to clarify the impact of SRH on prognosis in PPFE.

Real-World Data Analysis of Pembrolizumab Monotherapy for NSCLC Using Japanese Postmarketing All-Case Surveillance Data.

Introduction: Pembrolizumab is a programmed death-ligand 1 inhibitor that was initially indicated for monotherapy in patients with advanced lung cancer. The Japanese Lung Cancer Society conducted an observational study on pembrolizumab using confirmative data obtained through postmarketing all-case surveillance (PMACS), which was performed by a pharmaceutical company under the Japanese law in 2017.

Methods: This multicenter observational study was conducted by the Japanese Lung Cancer Society using PMACS data with the newly created central registration system regarding patients with NSCLC who received pembrolizumab monotherapy between February 1, 2017 and June 30, 2017; a new database was created by adding the clinical information regarding prognosis for 3 years after therapy to the existing data collected by PMACS.

A case of primary multidrug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis with high minimum inhibitory concentration value for bedaquiline.

Bedaquiline is a new ATP synthesis inhibitor developed as an anti-tuberculosis agent. It has resistance-associated variants (RAV), regardless of preceding bedaquiline exposure. Herein, we describe the case of a patient with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) who had no history of bedaquiline therapy but presented a relatively high minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of bedaquiline (1 μg/mL).

NSCLC Subtyping in Conventional Cytology: Results of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Cytology Working Group Survey to Determine Specific Cytomorphologic Criteria for Adenocarcinoma and Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Introduction: Accurate subtyping of NSCLC into lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) is the cornerstone of NSCLC diagnosis. Cytology samples reveal higher rates of classification failures, that is, subtyping as non-small cell carcinoma-not otherwise specified (NSCC-NOS), as compared with histology specimens. This study aims to identify specific algorithms on the basis of known cytomorphologic features that aid accurate and successful subtyping of NSCLC on cytology.

Common exacerbation-prone phenotypes across asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Background And Objectives: Chronic inflammatory airway diseases, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are complex syndromes with diverse clinical symptoms due to multiple pathophysiological conditions. In this study, using common and shared risk factors for the exacerbation of asthma and COPD, we sought to clarify the exacerbation-prone phenotypes beyond disease labels, and to specifically investigate the role of the IL4RA gene polymorphism, which is related to type 2 inflammation, in these exacerbation-prone phenotypes.

Methods: The study population comprised patients with asthma (n = 117), asthma-COPD overlap (ACO; n = 37) or COPD (n = 48) and a history of exacerbation within the previous year.

Combining baloxavir marboxil with standard-of-care neuraminidase inhibitor in patients hospitalised with severe influenza (FLAGSTONE): a randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled, superiority trial.

Background: Neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs) are considered the standard of care for hospitalised patients with influenza. We aimed to test whether combining the cap-dependent endonuclease inhibitor baloxavir marboxil (hereafter baloxavir) with standard-of-care NAIs would result in improved clinical outcomes compared with NAI monotherapy in hospitalised patients with severe influenza.

Methods: We did a randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled, superiority trial.

Expression quantitative trait loci for ETV4 and MEOX1 are associated with adult asthma in Japanese populations.

ETS variant transcription factor 4 (ETV4) is a recently identified transcription factor that regulates gene expression-based biomarkers of asthma and IL6 production in an airway epithelial cell line. Given that ETV4 has not yet been implicated in asthma genetics, we performed genetic association studies of adult asthma in the ETV4 region using two independent Japanese cohorts (a total of 1532 controls and 783 cases). SNPs located between ETV4 and mesenchyme homeobox 1 (MEOX1) were significantly associated with adult asthma, including rs4792901 and rs2880540 (P = 5.

Cutaneous T-cell-attracting chemokine as a novel biomarker for predicting prognosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a prospective observational study.

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive fibrotic lung disease that leads to respiratory failure and death. Although there is a greater understanding of the etiology of this disease, accurately predicting the disease course in individual patients is still not possible. This study aimed to evaluate serum cytokines/chemokines as potential biomarkers that can predict outcomes in IPF patients.

A Case of Pulmonary Metastasis of Breast Cancer 23 Years after Surgery Accompanied with Non-Tuberculous Mycobacterium Infection.

Recurrence of oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer rarely occurs postoperatively after a long period. Breast cancer cells survive and settle in distant organs in a dormant state, a phenomenon known as "tumour dormancy." Here, we present a 66-year-old woman with recurrence of ER-positive breast cancer in the left lung 23 years after surgery accompanied with non-tuberculous mycobacterium infection (NTM).

ECT2 promotes lung adenocarcinoma progression through extracellular matrix dynamics and focal adhesion signaling.

Lung adenocarcinoma (LAC) is the most prevalent form of lung cancer. Epithelial cell transforming sequence 2 (ECT2) is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor that has been implicated in oncogenic and malignant phenotypes of LAC. Here, we identified an oncogenic role of ECT2 in the extracellular matrix (ECM) dynamics of LAC cells.

Genetic impact of CDHR3 on the adult onset of asthma and COPD.

Background: Adult-onset asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are heterogeneous diseases caused by complex gene-environment interactions. A functional single nucleotide polymorphism of cadherin-related family member 3 (CDHR3), known as a receptor of rhinovirus-C, is associated with childhood-onset asthma especially in atopic individuals.

Objective: Here, we identified risk factors for adult-onset asthma and COPD, focusing on the impact of the CDHR3 variant in atopic individuals.

A case of Marfan syndrome with massive haemoptysis from collaterals of the lateral thoracic artery.

Background: Marfan Syndrome (MFS) is a heritable connective tissue disorder with a high degree of clinical variability including respiratory diseases; a rare case of MFS with massive intrathoracic bleeding has been reported recently.

Case Presentation: A 32-year-old man who had been diagnosed with MFS underwent a Bentall operation with artificial valve replacement for aortic dissection and regurgitation of an aortic valve in 2012. Warfarin was started postoperatively, and the dosage was gradually increased until 2017, when the patient was transported to our hospital due to sudden massive haemoptysis.

Immunocytochemistry for predictive biomarker testing in lung cancer cytology.

With an escalating number of predictive biomarkers emerging in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), immunohistochemistry (IHC) is being used as a rapid and cost-effective tool for the screening and detection of many of these markers. In particular, robust IHC assays performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor tissue are widely used as surrogate markers for ALK and ROS1 rearrangements and for detecting programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in patients with advanced NSCLC; in addition, they have become essential for treatment decisions. Cytology samples represent the only source of tumor in a significant proportion of patients with inoperable NSCLC, and there is increasing demand for predictive biomarker testing on them.

A case of airway aluminosis with likely secondary pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis.

Background: Excessive inhalation of aluminium powder occasionally results in upper lobe predominant lung fibrosis, which is similar to idiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis (IPPFE) and has been suggested to be secondary PPFE.

Case Presentation: A 67-year-old man who had worked in an aluminum-processing factory for 50 years visited our hospital complaining of exertional dyspnea. Chest computed tomography (CT) showed bilateral dense sub-pleural consolidation in the upper and middle lung fields, which was consistent with IPPFE; however, the possibility of secondary PPFE associated with aluminosis was not ruled out.

A cis-eQTL allele regulating reduced expression of CHI3L1 is associated with late-onset adult asthma in Japanese cohorts.

Background: The chitinase-like protein YKL-40 plays a major role in inhibiting the inflammasome. Deregulation of inflammasome activation is emerging as a key modulator of pathologic airway inflammation in patients with asthma. We determined whether cis-expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) of the gene that encodes YKL-40, chitinase 3-like 1 (CHI3L1), are involved in the onset of asthma or in specific asthma phenotypes.