CTCs Detection and Whole-exome Sequencing Might Be Used to Differentiate Benign and Malignant Pulmonary Nodules / 中国肺癌杂志

BACKGROUND@#Low-density computed tomography (LDCT) improved early lung cancer diagnosis but introduces an excess of false-positive pulmonary nodules data. Hence, accurate diagnosis of early-stage lung cancer remains challenging. The purpose of the study was to assess the feasibility of using circulating tumour cells (CTCs) to differentiate malignant from benign pulmonary nodules.@*METHODS@#122 patients with suspected malignant pulmonary nodules detected on chest CT in preparation for surgery were prospectively recruited. Peripheral blood samples were collected before surgery, and CTCs were identified upon isolation by size of epithelial tumour cells and morphological analysis. Laser capture microdissection, MALBAC amplification, and whole-exome sequencing were performed on 8 samples. The diagnostic efficacy of CTCs counting, and the genomic variation profile of benign and malignant CTCs samples were analysed.@*RESULTS@#Using 2.5 cells/5 mL as the cut-off value, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was of 0.651 (95% confidence interval: 0.538-0.764), with a sensitivity and specificity of 0.526 and 0.800, respectively, and positive and negative predictive values of 91.1% and 30.3%, respectively. Distinct sequence variations differences in DNA damage repair-related and driver genes were observed in benign and malignant samples. TP53 mutations were identified in CTCs of four malignant cases; in particular, g.7578115T>C, g.7578645C>T, and g.7579472G>C were exclusively detected in all four malignant samples.@*CONCLUSIONS@#CTCs play an ancillary role in the diagnosis of pulmonary nodules. TP53 mutations in CTCs might be used to identify benign and malignant pulmonary nodules.

Risk factors of postoperative acute pain after thoracoscopic surgery for patients with early-stage lung adenocarcinoma / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:To improve the understanding of acute pain after thoracoscopic surgery in patients with early-stage lung adenocarcinoma, to analyze and screen out the independent risk factors that may induce acute postoperative pain. The patients' surgery experience may get improved through the corresponding timely and effective interventions.Methods:We retrospectively reviewed the clinical data of 204 patients with early-stage lung adenocarcinoma who were treated by a single medical team of our center from May 2021 to October 2021, and analyzed the assessment results of acute postoperative pain. Patients were grouped according to the general condition, past medical history, social and spiritual attributes, lesion characteristics, surgical approaches and anesthetic methods. Comparison of proportions of acute postoperative pain between the groups were made, and independent risk factors were identified.Results:A total of 84 males and 120 females were enrolled, with a mean age of(57.9±11.5)years old and a median operation time of 120(110, 145) min. No serious complication or perioperative death occurred in the whole group. Postoperative pain control failed in 76 cases(37.3%), 24 cases(11.8%) suffered from severe postoperative pain, and 33 cases(16.2%) required additional intramuscular injection of strong analgesics after surgery. Those who were younger than 60 years old, with a university degree or above, received two-incision surgery, operated for more than 2 h, received general anesthesia only, or in a state of depression, had significantly higher rates of postoperative acute pain, compared with their respective control groups( P<0.05). The independent risk factors for acute pain after thoracoscopic surgery included age( P=0.002), history of alcoholism( P=0.014), number of incisions( P=0.016), operation time( P=0.010), depression status( P=0.037) and enhanced anesthetic method( P=0.012). Conclusion:A large amount of patients with early-stage lung cancer suffered from acute pain after thoracoscopic surgery, which seriously affected their treatment experience and even quality of life. Young patients with a history of alcoholism and depression status were high-risk groups for postoperative acute pain. Applying Uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, reducing the operation time as much as possible, and choosing enhanced analgesic anesthesia represented by epidural block combined with general anesthesia might be effective ways to reduce the probability of acute postoperative pain.

Preliminary experience of neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy in resectable non-small cell lung cancer / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:The study aimed was to explore the safety and efficacy of neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Methods:We retrospectively collected data of all patients who received neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy and chemotherapy for NSCLC followed by surgery in our unit between January 2019 to September 2021.Results:Forty-four patients were diagnosed with NSCLC in a stageⅠ(2 cases), ⅡA(7 cases), ⅡB(11 cases), ⅢA (15 cases), ⅢB (1 case). The average age was 63 years old(range 44-71 years old). Squamous cell carcinoma accounted for 65.91% of all patients. Central lung cancer accounted for the vast majority, with 39 patients (88.64%). There were 19 cases in the neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy group and 25 cases in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group; the average interval between the end of neoadjuvant therapy and the day of operation was 34 days, including( 33.74±10.66 )days in the immunochemotherapy group and (33.88±11.9) days in the chemotherapy group, and there was no significant difference between the two groups. No grade 3 or more adverse events occurred in all patients. There were 13 cases (63.16%) reached PR (partial response)+ CR (complete response) according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST v. 1.1) in the neoadjuvant immunity group and 11 cases (44.00%) in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group. There was no significant difference between the two groups. In the neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy group, 9 cases (47.37%) achieved down-staging, In the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group, 8 cases (32.00%) achieved down-staging, there was no significant difference between the two groups. Seven patients (36.84%) in neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy group showed pCR (pathologic complete remission), but there were no patients who reached pCR in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group., the difference was statistically significant ( P=0.001). Four patients (21.05%) in the neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy group reached mPR (major pathologic response), 6 patients (24.00%) in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group reached mPR, and the difference was no statistically significant( P= 0.817). Conclusion:The safety of neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy was satisfactory; Compared with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy did not increase the preoperative grade 3 adverse events and prolong the waiting time before operation; neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy had obvious advantages in pCR, which provided the possibility for the cure of tumor.

Different preoperative examinations could be considered for small lung adenocarcinoma with different CT findings / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:To analyze the law of distant metastasis in patients with small lung adenocarcinoma with different CT findings, and to explore the feasibility of different preoperative examination methods for small lung adenocarcinoma with different imaging characteristics.Methods:Clinicopathological data of cT1a-cN0 lung adenocarcinoma patients admitted to the respiratory center of China-Japan Hospital from January 2017 to December 2018 were retrospectively collected. A total number of 785 patients were included, including 289 males and 496 females. SPSS 22.0 was used for statistical analysis.Results:A total number of 785 patients were included in this study, including 287 pure ground-glass nodule (GGN) patients, 111 GGN predominant patients, 221 solid predominant patients and 166 solid nodule patients. Among the included patients, 8 had distant metastasis, including 6 with bone metastasis, 1 with brain metastasis and 1 with brain and adrenal metastasis. No distant metastasis was observed in the patients with pure GGN and GGN predominant nodule, while 1 solid predominant patients had distant metastasis, and 7 patients with solid nodules had distant metastasis. The probability of distant metastasis was 0.5% for the solid predominant patients and 4.2% for the solid nodule patients. Univariate analysis results showed that CEA level ( P=0.030), the largest diameter of the lung window tumor ( P=0.003), the largest diameter of the solid component of the lung window tumor ( P<0.001), the largest area of the lung window tumor ( P=0.002), mediastinal window tumor maximum area ( P<0.001), CTR ( P<0.001), TDR ( P<0.001), and pleural indentation sign ( P=0.037) were risk factors for distant metastases. Multivariate analysis showed that CEA ( OR=1.019, 95% CI: 1.002-1.037, P=0.028) and TDR ( OR=0.000, 95% CI: 0.000-0.310, P=0.001) were independent risk factors of distant metastasis. Conclusion:For patients with pure GGN and GGN predominant nodule, preoperative examination could not be required, but for pure solid nodules, it is necessary to perform relevant preoperative examination including skull MRI before surgery to exclude distant metastasis.

Predictive value of radiological features on spread through air spaces in stage cⅠA lung adenocarcinoma with predominant ground-glass opacity / 中国胸心血管外科临床杂志

@#Objective    To investigate the predictive value of preoperative radiological features on spread through air spaces (STAS) in stage cⅠA lung adenocarcinoma with predominant ground-glass opacity, and to provide a basis for the selection of surgical methods for these patients. Methods    The clinical data of 768 patients with stage cⅠA lung adenocarcinoma undergoing operation in our hospital from 2017 to 2018 were reviewed, and 333 early stage lung adenocarcinoma patients with predominant ground-glass opacity were selected. There were 92 males and 241 females, with an average age of 57.0±10.0 years. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 22.0. Results    STAS-positive patients were mostly invasive adenocarcinoma (P=0.037), and had more micropapillary component (P<0.001) and more  epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations (P=0.020). There were no statistically significant differences between the STAS-positive and STAS-negative patients in other clinicopathological features. Univariate analysis showed that the maximum diameter of tumor in lung window (P=0.029), roundness (P=0.035), maximum diameter of solid tumor component in lung window (P<0.001), consolidation/tumor ratio (CTR, P<0.001), maximum area of the tumor in mediastinum window (P=0.001), tumor disappearance ratio (TDR, P<0.001), average CT value (P=0.001) and lobulation sign (P=0.038) were risk factors for STAS positive. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the CTR was an independent predictor of STAS (OR=1.05, 95%CI 1.02 to 1.07, P<0.001), and the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.71 (95%CI 0.58 to 0.85, P=0.002). When the cutoff value was 19%, the sensitivity of predicting STAS was 66.7%, and the specificity was 75.2%. Conclusion    CTR is a good radiological feature to predict the occurrence of STAS in early lung adenocarcinoma with predominant ground-glass opacity. For the stage cⅠA lung adenocarcinoma with predominant ground-glass opacity and CTR ≥19%, the possibility of STAS positive is greater, and sublobar resection needs to be carefully considered.

Impact of interstitial lung disease on postoperative morbidity and 60 day mortality after pulmonary resection for lung cancer / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective:To evaluate the effect of interstitial lung disease(ILD) on postoperative morbidity and mortality in pulmonary resection for lung cancer patients.Methods:We retrospectively analyzed 971 patients undergoing pulmonary operation from January 2010 to January 2018 in our hospital. Clinical data including age, sex, history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD), smoking history, smoking index, American Society of Anesthesiologists(ASA) classification, forced expiratory volume in 1 s(FEV1) % predict, surgical procedure, video assisted thoracoscopic surgery(VATS) or not, intraoperative blood transfusion, anesthesia time, operation time/one-lung ventilation time, blood loss, histology, postoperative morbidity, 60-days mortality, onset of acute exacerbation of interstitial lung disease(AE-ILD), drainage, extubation time, and postoperative stay were collected and analyzed.Results:There were 80(8.2%) and 891(91.8%) patients in ILD and non-ILD group, respectively. AE-ILD occurred in 5 patients, with a 60-day mortality of 80%. A multivariate regression analysis identified that the sex( P=0.023), ILD( P=0.001), COPD( P=0.027) were independent risk factors for postoperative morbidity. ILD( P=0.023) and postoperative morbidity( P=0.001) were independent risk factors for 60-day mortality in multivariate analysis. Conclusion:Patients with ILD had a higher incidence of postoperative morbidity and 60-day mortality. Based on the obvious postoperative morbidity and mortality, special attention and management should be taken in ILD patients.

Analysis of mediastinal lymph node metastasis of stage cT1a-cN0M0 lung adenocarcinoma / 中国胸心血管外科临床杂志

@#Objective    To investigate the mediastinal lymph node metastasis of cT1a-cN0M0 lung adenocarcinoma, so as to provide a theoretical basis for intraoperative lymph node dissection in patients with early stage lung adenocarcinoma. Methods    Clinicopathological features of lung adenocarcinoma patients who received operation in our hospital from 2017 to 2018 were collected. A total of 667 patients including 241 male and 426 female patients at age of 59 (16, 87) years were included. There were 234 patients with pure ground glass nodules, 98 patients with ground glass-predominant tumor, 199 patients with consolidation-predominant tumor and 136 patinets with solid tumor in the study. Postoperative N1 lymph node metastasis occurred in 30 patients and N2 lymph node metastasis occurred in 52 patients. Results    The result of univariate analysis showed that male (P=0.014), higher carcino-embryonic antigen levels (P<0.001), larger nodal diameter (P<0.001), larger consolidation tumor ratio (P<0.001), smaller tumor disappearance ratio (P<0.001), solid nodules (P<0.001), cavitary sign (P=0.005), lobulation sign (P=0.002), spicule sign (P=0.003), pleural indentation sign (P=0.001), bronchus sign (P=0.025) were risk factors for mediastinal lymph node metastasis. In terms of pathology, the N2 positive group had larger size of pathological tissue (P<0.001), more N1 lymph node metastasis (P<0.001), higher pathology T stage (P<0.001), more spread through air space (P=0.001), more pleural invasion (P<0.001), and more lymphovascular invasion (P<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that lymphovascular invasion (OR=6.9, 95%CI 2.3-20.7, P=0.001), larger consolidation tumor ratio (OR=109.6, 95%CI 3.8-3 124.3, P=0.006), cavitary sign (OR=3.1, 95%CI 1.1-8.3, P=0.028) and N1 lymph node metastasis (OR=15.7, 95%CI 6.7-36.4, P<0.001) were independent risk factors for mediastinal lymph node metastasis. Conclusion    For lung adenocarcinoma, mediastinal lymph node metastasis will not occur in ground glass nodule and ground glass-predominant tumor patients. The probability of mediastinal lymph node metastasis increases with the increase of solid components and presence of cavitary sign. Therefore, different types of lymph node resection can be considered for patients with different imaging findings.

Analysis of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration's efficiency in the early diagnosis of non-central small cell lung cancer / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

Objective To evaluate the value of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration in the early diagnosis of non-central small cell lung cancer.Methods 141 patients wereselected from July 1999 to June 2017,who were diagnosed with small cell lung cancer (stage N2 and N3).They were divided into two groups according to the approach of obtaining histopathological tissuefor diagnosis.49 cases in the experimental group were obtained by EBUS-TBNA,92 cases in the control group were done by video assisted thoracic surgery (40 cases,43.5％),mediastinoscopy (1 case,1.1％),and open procedure (51 case,55.4％).Survival outcome,time of waiting for the treatment and lengthof stay were analyzed.Results There werel09 males,32 females,the range of age is from 16 to 79 years old [(56.21 ± 11.48) years].62 lesions located in the upper lobe,12 in the middle lobe,56 in the lower lobe,11 in the middle-lower/-upper lobes.Considering the T stage,there are 7 cases of T1,61 cases of T2,45 cases of T3,and 26cases of T4,2 patients with Tx stage.Compared with conventional approach,EBUS-TBNA saved 10.78 days from admission to the time of receiving treatment [(4.62 ± 0.66)days vs.(15.40 ± 1.61) days,P ＜ 0.05],and saved 18.13 days of length of stay [(5.30 ± 0.76) days vs.(23.43 ± 2.44) days,P ＜0.05].5-year survival rate was 31.0％ for traditional group and 27.5％ for EBUS-TBNA group,there was no significant difference between two groups(P =0.308).Conclusion EBUS-TBNA couldsave the waiting days from admission to the time of receiving treatment,and also shorten the total length of stay.EBUS-TBNA was more efficient than conventional approaches (VATS,mediastinoscopy or open procedure) for diagnosing non-central small cell lung cancer with enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes.

Sequential bilateral lobar transplantation A case report / 中国组织工程研究

BACKGROUND: Lung transplantation can improve quality of life of patients who get terminal pulmonary disease and also it can help to get better survival.Now it has become one of the best therapeutic methods for terminal pulmonary disease.However,limited donors leave the development of lung transplantation in dilemma.The emergence of living lobar transplantation and cadeveric lobar transplantation let this procedure much easier.OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical probability of bilateral lobar transplantation.METHODS: Sequential bilateral lobar transplantation was performed for one 26 years old cystic fibrosis female.Cardiac pulmonary bypass was used during operation.Anti-rejection(Tacrolimus,mycophenolate,etc)and anti-infection was used postoperatively.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The recovery course postoperatively was smooth,and the recipient got out of hospital 7weeks later.Bilateral lobar transplantation could offer satisfied short-term pulmonary function.The long term results should be further evaluated.