The 5-year OS and PFS rates in randomly assigned patients with resectable stage III non-small-cell lung cancer were excellent with both treatments. Both are acceptable strategies for this good-prognosis group.

MR/PET imaging of the lung is feasible and provides diagnostic image quality in the assessment of pulmonary masses. Similar lesion characterization and tumor stage were found in comparing PET/CT and MR/PET images in most patients.

PURPOSE We started a phase II trial of induction chemotherapy and concurrent hyperfractionated chemoradiotherapy followed by either surgery or boost chemoradiotherapy in patients with advanced, stage III disease. The purpose is to achieve better survival in the surgery group with minimum morbidity and mortality. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients treated from 1998 to 2002 with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and surgical resection for stage III NSCLC were analyzed. The treatment consisted of four cycles of induction chemotherapy with carboplatin/paclitaxel followed by chemoradiotherapy with a reduced dose of carboplatin/paclitaxel and accelerated hyperfractionated radiotherapy with 1.5 Gy twice daily up to 45 Gy. After restaging, operable patients underwent thoracotomy. Inoperable patients received chemoradiotherapy up to 63 Gy. Study end points included resectability, pathologic response, and survival. Results One hundred twenty patients were enrolled; 25% patients had stage IIIA, 73% had stage IIIB, and 2% stage IV. After treatment, 47.5% had downstaging, 29.2% had stable disease, and 23.3% had progressive disease. Thirty patients (25%) were not eligible for operation because of progressive disease, stable disease, and/or functional deterioration with one treatment-related death. The 30-day mortality was 5% in patients who underwent operation. The 5-year survival rate for 120 patients was 21.7%, and it was 43.1% in patients with complete resection. In postoperative patients with stage N0 disease, 5-year survival was 53.3%; if stage N2 or N3 disease was still present, 5-year survival was 33.3%. CONCLUSION Staging and treatment with chemoradiotherapy and complete resection performed in experienced centers achieve acceptable morbidity and mortality.

IntroductionThe accurate diagnosis of individual interstitial lung diseases (ILD) is often challenging, but is a critical determinant of appropriate management. If a diagnosis cannot be made after multidisciplinary team discussion (MDTD) surgical lung biopsy (SLB) is the current recommended tissue sampling technique according to the most recent guidelines. Transbronchial lung cryobiopsy (TBLC) has been proposed as an alternative to SLB.MethodsThis prospective, multicenter, international study analysed the impact of TBLC on the diagnostic assessment of 128 patients with suspected idiopathic intersitital pneumonia by a central MDTD board (two both clinicians, radiologists, pathologists). The level of confidence for the first-choice diagnoses were evaluated in four steps: 1. clinicoradiological data alone, 2. addition of BAL findings, 3. addition of TBLC interpretation, and 4. SLB findings (if available). We evaluated the contribution of TBLC to the formulation of a confident first-choice MDTD diagnosis.ResultsTBLC led to a significant increase in the percentage of cases with confident diagnoses or provisional diagnoses with high confidence (likelihood ≥70%) from 60.2% to 81.2%. In 32 out of 52 nondiagnostic patients after BAL TBLC provided a diagnosis with a likelihood≥70%. The percentage of confident diagnoses (likelihood≥90%) increased from 22.7% after BAL to 53.9% after TBLC. Pneumothoraces occurred in 16.4%, moderate or severe bleeding in 15.7% of patients. No deaths were observed within 30 days.InterpretationTBLC increases diagnostic confidence in the majority of ILD patients with an uncertain non-invasive diagnosis, with manageable side effects. These data support the integration of TBLC in the diagnostic algorithm for ILD.

Perfusion values are related to MVD and tumor grade but vary considerably among lung cancer subtypes.

Imaging diagnosis in RPC using CT and/or MRI delivers information about the degree of disease activity that correlates better with clinical features than unspecific inflammatory laboratory markers. Additionally, clinically unapparent cartilage involvement can be assessed adding value to the clinical diagnosis and therapy planning in this rare disease.

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Purpose: The aim of the study was to evaluate safety, effectiveness, recurrence rate and 10-year survival after bronchial artery embolization (BAE) in benign and malignant etiologies. Methods: The retrospective study includes 100?BAE procedures in 88 patients. Underlying disease was classified as benign (n?=?67) and malignant (n?=?21) etiologies. Immediate bleeding control and procedure safety were evaluated in all patients. In 51?(58?%) patients, follow-up data with a median follow-up time of 1015 days (range, 494 to 3727 days) were acquired to assess overall survival, time-to-recurrence of bleeding and recurrence-free survival, using Kaplan-Maier estimates to compare differences between both subgroups. Results: Immediate bleeding control was achieved after 96/100 procedures (96?%), with a?minor complication rate of 5.0?%. No major complications occurred. The overall survival was 74?%?after 1 year and 59?% after 5 years and 10?years. There was a significant difference in survival between the malignant and benign groups (p?