Prognostic effect of class III β-tubulin and Topoisomerase-II in patients with advanced thymic carcinoma who received combination chemotherapy, including taxanes or topoisomerase-II inhibitors.

Class III β-tubulin (TUBB3) and Topoisomerase-II (topo-II) are considered to be the predictors of therapeutic efficacy and outcome in several types of human neoplasm. However, whether TUBB3 or topo-II may predict the response to combination chemotherapy and prognosis in patients with advanced thymic carcinoma (ATC) remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prognostic significance of TUBB3 and topo-II expression levels in ATC.

Impact of Maintenance Therapy for Patients with Non-small Cell Lung Cancer in a Real-world Setting.

Background: The purpose of this study was to explore the role of maintenance therapy for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in a real-world setting.

Patients And Methods: This was a prospective observational cohort multicenter study. Eligible patients were observed from initiation of first-line platinum-based chemotherapy until final follow-up.

[Repeated rituximab-induced serum sickness with anaphylaxis].

We describe a patient who developed repeated rituximab-induced serum sickness (RISS) followed by anaphylaxis soon after the third administration of rituximab at relapse. A 65-year-old woman with Sjögren's syndrome and relapsed mucosal associated lymphoma tissue (MALT) lymphoma of the lung underwent rituximab monotherapy (375 mg/m(2)/week). Several days after the second exposure to rituximab, she developed a rash, fever, and arthralgia.

Incidence and clinical background of hepatitis B virus reactivation in multiple myeloma in novel agents' era.

There are some reports regarding hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation in patients with myeloma who are HBV carriers or who have had a resolved HBV infection, and there is no standard prophylaxis strategy for these patients. We performed a retrospective multicenter study to determine the incidence and characteristics of HBV reactivation in patients with multiple myeloma. We identified 641 patients with multiple myeloma who had been treated using novel agents and/or autologous stem cell transplantation with high-dose chemotherapy between January 2006 and June 2014 at nine Japanese hospitals.

First-line gefitinib treatment in elderly patients (aged ≥75 years) with non-small cell lung cancer harboring EGFR mutations.

Purpose: The efficacy of gefitinib [an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor] in elderly patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and EGFR mutation has not been elucidated. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy and feasibility of gefitinib in elderly chemotherapy-naive patients with NSCLC harboring sensitive EGFR mutations.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the clinical effects of gefitinib as a first-line treatment for elderly (≥75 years) NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations (exon 19 deletion or exon 21 L858R mutation).

Silent venous thromboembolism in multiple myeloma patients treated with lenalidomide.

Lenalidomide treatment in combination with dexamethasone and/or chemotherapy is associated with a significant risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). However, the incidence of asymptomatic VTE in lenalidomide-treated MM patients remains unclear. A total of 80 relapsed and refractory MM patients treated with lenalidomide-containing regimens in a single institution between July 2010 and July 2014 were retrospectively analyzed.

Comparison of platinum combination re-challenge therapy and docetaxel monotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer patients previously treated with platinum-based chemoradiotherapy.

Platinum-based chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is a standard front-line treatment for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, no clinical trials have compared the efficacy and toxicity of platinum combination and docetaxel as subsequent re-challenge chemotherapies after cancer recurrence following CRT. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of platinum combination chemotherapy versus docetaxel monotherapy in NSCLC patients previously treated with platinum-based CRT.

[A case of clinically diagnosed eosinophilic bronchiolitis].

A 71-year-old man was referred to our hospital because of an intractable productive cough. Although he was treated for bronchial asthma, the symptom did not improve. Furthermore, since he developed progressive dyspnea and hypoxemia, he was admitted to our hospital.

Expression of L-type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1) as a prognostic and therapeutic indicator in multiple myeloma.

L-type amino-acid transporter 1 (LAT1) plays a key role in cell growth and survival. To determine the prognostic significance of LAT1 in multiple myeloma (MM), we investigated the expression of LAT1 and its functional subunit, 4Fc heavy chain (CD98), on myeloma cells by immunohistochemistry in 100 newly diagnosed MM patients. High expression (moderate or strong staining intensity) of LAT1 and CD98 was detected in 56% and 45% of patients, respectively.

Surrogate endpoints for overall survival in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer patients with mutations of the epidermal growth factor receptor gene.

Subsequent therapies confound the ability to discern the effect of first-line chemotherapy on overall survival (OS). We investigated whether progression-free survival (PFS), post-progression survival (PPS) and tumor response were valid surrogate endpoints for OS following first-line chemotherapy in individual patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring sensitive epidermal growth factor receptor gene mutations. We retrospectively analyzed 35 patients with advanced NSCLC treated with first-line gefitinib.

Randomized phase III trial of erlotinib versus docetaxel as second- or third-line therapy in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: Docetaxel and Erlotinib Lung Cancer Trial (DELTA).

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy of erlotinib versus docetaxel in previously treated patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) -unselected patient population.

Patients And Methods: The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary end points included overall survival (OS), response rate, safety, and analyses on EGFR wild-type tumors.

Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of interleukin-8 expression and its relationship to KRAS mutation in lung adenocarcinoma.

Background: On the basis of our recent findings of oncogenic KRAS-induced interleukin-8 (IL-8) overexpression in non-small cell lung cancer, we assessed the clinicopathological and prognostic significances of IL-8 expression and its relationship to KRAS mutations in lung adenocarcinomas.

Methods: IL-8 expression was examined by quantitative RT-PCR using 136 of surgical specimens from lung adenocarcinoma patients. The association between IL-8 expression, clinicopathological features, KRAS or EGFR mutation status and survival was analysed.

[A case of sarcoidosis with bilateral pleural effusion treated with high-dose steroids].

A 25-year-old man was admitted with elevated fever, dyspnea, cough, dorsal chest pain, and multiple nodular shadows and pleural effusion found on chest X-ray films. There were multiple swollen superficial lymph nodes, and non-caseating epithelioid cell granulomas with Langhans giant cells were detected on a biopsy specimen of a right inguinal lymph node. Bronchoscopy findings demonstrated mucosal irregularity, telangiectasia and small nodules, and another biopsy specimen was similar to that of the inguinal lymph node.

[A case of non-small cell lung cancer responding to S-1 over a year].

A 71-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital, because of an abnormality on her chest radiograph findings. After extensive examination, she was diagnosed with primary lung adenocarcinoma (cT4N2M1, stage IV). She was treated by carboplatin+gemcitabine, gefitinib and docetaxel and the responses were stable disease in any treatment.