This study demonstrated that the prognosis of CPFE is significantly worse than that of IPF alone. In particular, CPFE with paraseptal emphysema associated with high esPAP has an extremely poor prognosis.

Combination treatment with inhaled NAC and oral pirfenidone reduced the rate of annual FVC decline and improved PFS in patients with advanced IPF.

Background:Germline alterations in the proapoptotic protein Bcl-2–like 11 (BIM) can have a crucial role in tumor response to treatment. To determine the clinical utility of detecting BIM deletion polymorphism in non–small-cell lung cancer positive for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation, we examined outcomes of patients with and without BIM alterations.Methods:We studied 70 patients with EGFR mutation-positive non–small-cell lung cancer who were treated with an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor between January 2008 and January 2013. BIM deletion was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction in 58 samples of peripheral blood and 24 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded slides of surgical specimens (20 of lung tissue and four of brain tissue); both blood and tissue specimens were available for 12 patients. We retrospectively analyzed clinical characteristics, response rate, toxicity, and outcomes among patients with and without BIM deletion.Results:BIM deletion was present in 13 of 70 patients (18.6%). There were no significant differences between patients with and without BIM deletion in clinical characteristics, rate of response to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor, or incidence of adverse events. Patients with BIM deletion had significantly shorter progression-free survival (PFS) than those without BIM deletion (median, 227 versus 533 days; p < 0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that BIM deletion was an independent indicator of shorter PFS (hazard ratio, 3.99; 95% confidence interval, 1.864–8.547; p < 0.001).Conclusions:Polymerase chain reaction successfully detected BIM deletion in samples of peripheral blood and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded slides of surgical specimens. BIM deletion was the most important independent prognostic factor in shorter PFS.

Abstract.A 30-year-old man was admitted to Toho University Omori Medical Center for assessment of right chest pain and fever. Chest computed tomography (CT) revealed an anterior mediastinal tumor sized 11.0x6.0x5.0 cm, with right pleural effusion. The laboratory analysis revealed elevated white blood cell count (11,000/µl), C-reactive protein (4.1 mg/dl) and cytokeratin fragment (CYFRA; 12.7 ng/ml; normal, <2 ng/ml). The level of CYFRA in the pleural effusion was also markedly elevated (143 ng/ml). On the first day after admission (6 days after the initial CT), there was a mild regression on CT (10.0x5.5x4.4 cm; reduction rate, 26.7%), with decrease of the pleural effusion volume. A CT-guided needle biopsy was performed, but the findings were not conclusive, as most of the tissue was necrotic. Seven days later (13 days after the initial CT), a CT revealed further regression (9.5x5.4x4.2 cm; reduction rate, 34.7%) with disappearance of the pleural effusion. The patient was followed up on an outpatient basis. At 35 days after the initial CT, the tumor continued to shrink without treatment (8.0x3.6x3.0 cm; reduction rate, 73.8%) and the serum CYFRA level had decreased to 0.8 ng/ml, although it had not returned to normal levels. At 62 days after the initial CT, the patient underwent surgical resection. The resected specimen was diagnosed as thymoma (World Health Organization type B2; Masaoka classification, stage II), with prominent degeneration and necrosis. One possible cause of the spontaneous regression may be increased internal pressure, probably associated with rapid tumor growth, leading to massive necrosis with resulting chest pain, inflammatory reaction with pleural effusion and subsequent tumor regression. The serum CYFRA level may be a useful marker for the evaluation of the clinical course of thymoma with extensive necrosis. IntroductionThymoma is derived from thymic epithelial cells and is one of the most common neoplasms in the anterior mediastinum (1). The overall incidence of thymoma is 0.15 cases per 100,000 individuals and the majority of the patients with thymoma or thymic carcinoma are aged 40-60 years (2,3). The World Health Organisation (WHO) classification is based on histological analysis of epithelial cell atypia and the degree of infiltration of non-neoplastic lymphocytes (4). Although the great majority of these tumors exhibit more conventional histological characteristics, unusual types have also been described, such as sclerosing thymoma (5). Spontaneous regression (SR) of thymoma without therapy has been reported, although its incidence is rare (6)(7)(8). This is the case report of a patient with thymoma exhibiting SR and disappearance of the pleural effusion. Case reportA 30-year-old man was admitted to Toho University Omori Medical Center with right chest pain and low-grade fever. The patient was a never-smoker and had no medical history. On physical examination, the temperature was 37.8˚C and the respiratory sounds were clear. A chest X-ray revealed a mass shadow in the right hilum a...

Objective To assess the efficacy of pirfenidone in patients with advanced-stage idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), we conducted a retrospective study of patients who received pirfenidone therapy. In addition, the combined effects of inhaled N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and pirfenidone were evaluated. Methods Eligible patients had a clinical and radiologic diagnosis of advanced-stage IPF (stages of severity III&IV). Patients who exhibited a relative decline in forced vital capacity (FVC) of 10% or more within the preceding six (±2) months were enrolled. The outcome was evaluated from the date of the 6-month follow-up PFT. Relative declines in FVC of more than 10% were defined as progressive disease (ineffective group), while those less than 10% were defined as stable disease (effective group). The clinical features were compared between the two groups. We also compared the efficacy of the combined therapy with inhaled NAC and pirfenidone (n=11) with that of pirfenidone alone (n=7). Results Eighteen patients 59-82 years of age with IPF who received pirfenidone therapy were reviewed. Pirfenidone stabilized declines in FVC by 10% at six months in eight of the 18 cases (44%). The median changes in FVC at six months were +120 mL in the effective group and -590 mL in the ineffective group. The number of NAC users was significantly higher in the effective group (7/8=87.5%) than in the ineffective group (3/10=30%) (p=0.02). Furthermore, the use of combined NAC therapy was correlated with a favorable outcome. The median change in FVC at six months was 0 mL in the NAC group and -290 mL in the non-NAC group. The median survival period was 557±66 days in the NAC group and 196±57 days in the non-NAC group (p=0.03). Conclusion Among the advanced-stage IPF patients with a more progressive status, pirfenidone decreased the rate of decline in FVC. In addition, patients treated with pirfenidone combined with NAC therapy exhibited favorable outcomes. Additional studies are needed to confirm the efficacy of this combined therapy for IPF.

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