The Role of Minimally Invasive Surgery in the Treatment of Lung Metastases.

INTRODUCTION: The ideal surgical approach for pulmonary metastasectomy remains controversial. Thoracoscopic surgery may offer advantages in quality of life outcomes, with equivalent oncologic long-term results. This study aimed to demonstrate the validity of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) in the treatment of lung metastases. METHODS: In all 224 patients who underwent 300 VATS metastasectomies from January 2000 to December 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. Sixty-nine patients underwent major resection (68 thoracoscopic lobectomies and one pneumonectomy) and 155 patients underwent a wedge resection/segmentectomy. Complete curative pulmonary resections were performed in 219 (97%) cases. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate survival curves. Univariate and subsequent multivariate Cox model regression were performed to identify independent factors of overall survival. RESULTS: One hundred eighty-six patients developed lung metastases from epithelial tumors, 28 from sarcomas, seven from melanomas, and three from germ cell tumors. The final pathological examination revealed no cases of R1 disease. After a mean follow-up of 40 months, 118 patients (53%) had died. According to a multivariate analysis, a better prognosis was not observed for patients with a particular histological type; in addition, disease-free interval time, age, number of metastases, and type of surgery did not have any statistical influence on long-term survival. CONCLUSIONS: Thoracoscopic surgery is a safe and efficacious procedure, with a five-year overall survival that is equivalent to open surgery.

Expression of Ribonucleotide Reductase Subunit-2 and Thymidylate Synthase Correlates with Poor Prognosis in Patients with Resected Stages I-III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Biomarkers can help to identify patients with early-stages or locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have high risk of relapse and poor prognosis. To correlate the expression of seven biomarkers involved in DNA synthesis and repair and in cell division with clinical outcome, we consecutively collected 82 tumour tissues from radically resected NSCLC patients. The following biomarkers were investigated using IHC and q RT-PCR: excision repair cross-complementation group 1 (ERCC1), breast cancer 1 (BRCA1), ribonucleotide reductase subunits M1 and M2 (RRM1 and RRM2), subunit p53R2, thymidylate synthase (TS), and class III beta-tubulin (TUBB3). Gene expression levels were also validated in an available NSCLC microarray dataset. Multivariate analysis identified the protein overexpression of RRM2 and TS as independent prognostic factors of shorter overall survival (OS). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a trend in shorter OS for patients with RRM2, TS, and ERCC1, BRCA1 overexpressed tumours. For all of the biomarkers except TUBB3, the OS trends relative to the gene expression levels were in agreement with those relative to the protein expression levels. The NSCLC microarray dataset showed RRM2 and TS as biomarkers significantly associated with OS. This study suggests that high expression levels of RRM2 and TS might be negative prognostic factors for resected NSCLC patients.

Extra-abdominal fibromatosis: Clinical and therapeutic considerations based on an illustrative case.

Extra-abdominal fibromatosis is a rare, benign disease that is characterized by a local but not metastatic invasivity. In particular, desmoid tumors of the chest wall represent only 10-20% of all deep fibromatoses. The disease occurs more often in females and has a higher incidence between puberty and the fourth decade of life. The present study reports the case of a 34-year-old female who came to our attention due to a voluminous mass in the right subcostal region. The magnetic resonance imaging of the upper abdomen confirmed the presence of a neoplasm localized between the anterior hepatic margin and the right costal plane. Through a right subcostal laparotomy, the voluminous 95×45×94-mm neoplasm was excised. Histological examination showed evidence consistent with extra-abdominal fibromatosis. The patient has not shown recurrence of the disease for 4 years since the surgery. Overall, radical surgery with disease-free resection margins is the prime treatment option for this disease. Other therapeutic options, such as radiotherapy, hormonal therapy or treatment with imatinib mesylate, can also be considered in certain cases.

Postpneumonectomy bronchial stump recurrence and bronchopleural fistula.

OBJECTIVE: To reduce the incidence of postpneumonectomy local recurrence, and to prevent the onset of bronchopleural fistula. BACKGROUND: A long bronchial stump with a short tumor-free bronchial margin has been found to be associated with a higher incidence of local recurrence, and with the development of bronchopleural fistula in some cases. METHODS: 134 patients underwent pneumonectomy for non-small-cell lung cancer in 2 institutions. Bronchial stump length was measured intra-and postoperatively. RESULTS: 30-day postoperative mortality was 2.9%. There were 3 postoperative bronchopleural fistulas after right pneumonectomy (3/61) and one after left pneumonectomy (1/73; p=0.2; fistula was more frequent in the long-stump group), which were successfully treated with carina sutures in 75% of cases. The overall incidence of local recurrence was strongly related to the presence of tumoral microinvasion in the resection margin (100%). CONCLUSION: To prevent postpneumonectomy bronchial stump complications, it might be useful to use carina closure instead of bronchial closure. Carina closure can reduce local recurrence, significantly reduce the fistulization rate, and eliminate the stump diverticulum. Reduction of the length of the bronchial stump can be achieved using a TA Roticulator linear stapler.

Inspiratory stridor in a 12-month-old girl.

Congenital tracheal stenosis is a rare disorder, characterized by the presence of focal or diffuse complete tracheal cartilage rings, resulting in a fixed tracheal narrowing. The entity may be seen in isolation or in conjunction with other malformations that include an anomalous right upper lobe bronchus. We here report the case of a 12-month-old girl who had severe bi-segmental congenital tracheal stenosis with the interposition of a tracheal bronchus between the two stenotic segments.