Background Thymic carcinomas are rare cancers with limited data regarding outcomes, particularly for those patients with advanced disease. Methods We identified patients with thymic carcinomas diagnosed between 1993 and 2012. Patient characteristics, recurrence free survival (RFS), and overall survival (OS) were analyzed. Results One hundred twenty-one patients with thymic carcinomas were identified. Higher Masaoka stage was associated with worse OS and RFS (5-yr OS of 100%, 81%, 51%, 24%, and 17% for stage I, II, III, IVa and IVb respectively, p<0.001 and 5-yr RFS of 80%, 28%, and 7% for stage I/II, III, and IV respectively, p<0.001). Patients with stage IVb lymph node (LN) only disease had a better 5-year OS as compared to patients with distant metastasis (24% vs. 7%, p=0.025). Of the 61 patients with stage IVb disease, 22/29 patients (76%) with LN-only disease underwent curative intent resection vs. 3/32 patients (9%) with distant metastasis. Twenty-two patients with LN involvement were treated with multi-modality therapy. Three (14%) remain free of disease with long-term follow-up (range: 3.4+ years to 6.8+ years). Conclusions We describe the clinical features of a large series of patients with thymic carcinoma in North America. The Masaoka staging system effectively prognosticated OS and RFS. Patients with stage IVb LN-only disease had significantly better OS as compared to patients with distant metastasis with a subset of patients sustaining long term RFS with multi-modality therapy. If validated, these data would support a revised staging system with sub-classification of stage IVb disease into two groups.

BackgroundThe present study aims to assess the performance of 18F-FDG PET-CT on mediastinal staging of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in a location with endemic granulomatous infectious disease.MethodsDiagnostic test study including patients aged 18 years or older with operable stage I-III NSCLC and indication for a mediastinal lymph node biopsy. All patients underwent a 18F-FDG PET-scan before invasive mediastinal staging, either through mediastinoscopy or thoracotomy, which was considered the gold-standard. Surgeons and pathologists were blinded for scan results. Primary endpoint was to evaluate sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values of PET-CT with images acquired in the 1st hour of the exam protocol, using predefined cutoffs of maximal SUV, on per-patient basis.ResultsOverall, 85 patients with operable NSCLC underwent PET-CT scan followed by invasive mediastinal staging. Mean age was 65 years, 49 patients were male and 68 were white. One patient presented with active tuberculosis and none had HIV infection. Using any SUV_max > 0 as qualitative criteria for positivity, sensitivity and specificity were 0.87 and 0.45, respectively. Nevertheless, even when the highest SUV cut-off was used (SUV_max ≥5), specificity remained low (0.79), with an estimated positive predictive value of 54%.ConclusionsOur findings are in line with the most recent publications and guidelines, which recommend that PET-CT must not be solely used as a tool to mediastinal staging, even in a region with high burden of tuberculosis.Trial registrationThe LACOG 0114 study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, before study initiation, under identifier NCT02664792.

In Brazil, the rate of complications associated with minimally invasive surgery (VATS) for anatomical lung resection is significantly lower than that of conventional OT.

Background-Thymic carcinomas are rare cancers with limited data regarding outcomes, particularly for those patients with advanced disease. Methods-We identified patients with thymic carcinomas diagnosed between 1993 and 2012. Patient characteristics, recurrence free survival (RFS), and overall survival (OS) were analyzed. Results-One hundred twenty-one patients with thymic carcinomas were identified. Higher Masaoka stage was associated with worse OS and RFS (5-yr OS of 100%, 81%, 51%, 24%, and 17% for stage I, II, III, IVa and IVb respectively, p<0.001 and 5-yr RFS of 80%, 28%, and 7% for stage I/II, III, and IV respectively, p<0.001). Patients with stage IVb lymph node (LN) only disease had a better 5-year OS as compared to patients with distant metastasis (24% vs. 7%, p=0.025). Of the 61 patients with stage IVb disease, 22/29 patients (76%) with LN-only disease underwent curative intent resection vs. 3/32 patients (9%) with distant metastasis. Twenty-two patients with LN involvement were treated with multi-modality therapy. Three (14%) remain free of disease with long-term follow-up (range: 3.4+ years to 6.8+ years).

Objective:To describe the trends in tumor histology, gender and age among patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with lung resection. The histology of lung cancer has changed in developed countries, and there is still little information available on the topic for developing countries. Methods:This was a retrospective study of 1,030 patients with NSCLC treated with lung resection between 1986 and 2015 at a university hospital in southern Brazil. Differences in histology, stage, and type of surgery were analyzed by gender and for three periods (1986-1995, 1996-2005, and 2006-2015). Results:Most (64.5%) of the patients were males, and the main histological types were squamous cell carcinoma (in 40.6%) and adenocarcinoma (in 44.5%). The mean age at surgery during the first period was 56.4 years for women and 58.9 years for men, compared with 62.2 for women and 64.6 for men in the third period (p < 0.001). The proportion of females increased from 26.6% in the first period to 44.1% in the third. From the first to the third period, the proportion of patients with squamous cell carcinoma decreased from 49.6% to 34.8% overall (p < 0.001), decreasing to an even greater degree (from 38.9% to 23.2%) among men. Among the NSCLC patients in our sample, females with adenocarcinoma accounted for 11.9% in the first period and 24.0% in the third period (p < 0.001). Conclusions:As has been seen in developed countries, the rates of lung cancer in females in southern Brazil have been rising over the last three decades, although they have yet to surpass those observed for males in the region. The incidence of squamous cell carcinoma has decreased in males, approaching adenocarcinoma rates, whereas adenocarcinoma has significantly increased among women.

Brazil has a very different setting for public and private patients regarding exams accessibility and management options. That might explain why participants have a higher tendency to choose interventional diagnosis and explains why current guidelines may not be applicable to developing countries reality.

4. Bolsista de iniciação científica (FAPERGS). 5. Professor do Departamento de Pediatria da PUCRS. Doutor em Pneumologia (UFRGS). Artigo submetido em 20.01.03, aceito em 28.05.03. Resumo Objetivo: O objetivo deste estudo é analisar o exame citológico do aspirado nasofaríngeo de lactentes com bronquiolite aguda, especificamente em relação à presença de neutrófilos e eosinófilos. Métodos: Foram recrutados lactentes hospitalizados com diagnóstico de bronquiolite aguda, no Hospital São Lucas da PUCRS, no período entre maio e julho de 2002. O aspirado nasofaríngeo foi coletado nas primeiras 48 horas de internação hospitalar. O exame citológico diferencial foi realizado com coloração de May Grunwald Giemsa. Foram realizadas também contagem total de células e viabilidade celular nas amostras estudadas. Resultados: Foram selecionados 38 lactentes com bronquiolite aguda. A idade mediana foi de 2,2 meses (interquartil: 1,2-3,5), sendo 21 pacientes do sexo masculino. O exame citológico diferencial demonstrou um predomínio absoluto de neutrófilos, com mediana de 95% (interquartil: 94-97). Não foi detectada a presença de eosinófilos nas amostras estudadas. Conclusões: O aspirado nasofaríngeo de lactentes hospitalizados com bronquiolite aguda apresenta um predomínio absoluto de neutrófilos. Não foram encontrados eosinófilos nessas amostras. Esses achados demonstram que lactentes com bronquiolite aguda apresentam uma resposta inflamatória neutrofílica, nas vias aéreas, aos vírus respiratórios, distinta daquela eosinofílica, encontrada em quadros de asma.

PURPOSE:There are reports of greater survival rates in nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients of female gender. The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of gender in survival of NSCLC patients treated surgically with curative intent (stage I/II).METHODS:In a retrospective cohort design, we screened 498 NSCLC patients submitted to thoracotomies at the hospital Sγo Lucas, in Porto Alegre, Brazil from 1990 to 2009. After exclusion of patients that did not fit to all the inclusion criteria, we analyzed survival rates of 385 subjects. Survival was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. The Cox regression model was used to evaluate potential confounding factors.RESULTS:Survival rates at 5 and 10 years were 65.3% and 49.5% for women and 46.5% and 33.2% for men, respectively (P = 0.006). Considering only stage I patients, the survival rates at 5 and 10 years were 76.2% and 55.1% for women and 50.7% and 35.4% for men, respectively (P = 0.011). No significant differences in survival rates were found among stage II patients.CONCLUSIONS:Our results show female gender as a possible protective factor for better survival of stage I NSCLC patients, but not among stage II patients. This study adds data to the knowledge that combined both genders survival rates for NSCLC is not an adequate prognosis.