1,720,975 research outputs found
Exploring adjuvant epidermal growth factor receptor inhibition in non-small cell lung cancer
No full textLung cancer is among the most important causes of death worldwide. Despite the relevant progresses in the personalized approach to lung cancer, patients' survival is still poor. Only a minor fraction of patients can be addressed to surgery for radical tumor removal. Adjuvant chemotherapy is currently recommended for resected stages II and III patients although it is known that it can modestly contribute to survival prolongation. A better identification of molecular markers, predictive of adjuvant chemo response is now mandatory, in order to reduce useless toxicities and identify those patients who could really benefit. Here we present and analyze a recent paper by Huang et al. aimed at evaluating the prognostic role of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activation in adjuvant setting in order to determine whether the administration of EGFR tyrosine-kinase inhibitors could improve the outcomes of patients affected by NSCLC undergoing complete resection. Moreover we provide an exhaustive literature revision that could be helpful for a proper management of that small cohort of EGFR-mutated resected NSCLC
Lymph-node mapping in lung cancer staging: accuracy and limits of the current approaches
No full textLung cancer is among the most important causes of death worldwide. The presence of tumor metastasis in the mediastinum is one of the most relevant elements in determining the optimal treatment strategy in lung cancer. Lymph node "maps" are used to describe the location of nodal metastases, the latest was proposed by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) in 2009. Here we present and analyze a recent paper by El-Sherief and collaborators aimed to verify if and how lung cancer specialists really apply the IALSClymph node map when classifying thoracic lymph nodes documented on CT scans during lung cancer staging. In addition, we discuss the critical issues related to a correct Nstaging of lung cancer, mainly focusing on the limits of the present approaches and on how the increasing knowledge on the molecular basis on lung carcinogenesis can be exploited to properly dissect ambiguous and doubtful cases
Telomeropathies: an emerging spectrum of disorders with important implications for patients with interstitial lung disease
No full textGrowing evidence demonstrates that a number of clinical disorders may be related to genetic defects in telomere replication and extension. Overall, these syndromes are referred to as "telomeropathies" or "telomere disorders/syndromes"; they are increasingly being identified. In adulthood, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the most common symptom of telomeropathy. IPF is a progressive and fatal disease characterized by scarring of the lungs that thickens the interstitium ultimately leading to irreversible respiratory failure. Starting from this basis, the present review analyzes and discusses the findings of a relevant paper by Gautam George and colleagues from the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, recently appeared on the prestigious journal CHEST. In a cohort of patients addressed to lung transplantation, authors were able to demonstrate that subclinical bone marrow and liver abnormalities can be seen in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) and short telomeres, in some cases in the absence of clinically significant abnormalities in peripheral blood count and liver function tests. This observation sustains the rationale for further studies aimed to validate telomere length testing as a useful parameter as part of the evaluation for transplant candidacy. A deeper clarification of the complex link between IPF and short telomeres and telomeropathies is required for a new ILD classification, aimed to a fully personalized approach to the disease
Lung-Seeking Metastases
No full textMetastases from different cancer types most often affect the lung parenchyma. Moreover, the lungs are among the most frequent sites of growth of metastatic masses of uncertain/unknown lineage of origin. Thus, with regards to pulmonary neoplastic parenchymal nodules, the critical issue is to determine if they are IN the lung or OF the lung. In this review, we highlight the clinical, instrumental and molecular features which characterize lung metastases, mainly focusing on recently advancing and emerging concepts regarding the metastatic niche, inflammation, angiogenesis, immune modulation and gene expression. A novel issue is related to the analysis of biomechanical forces which cooperate in the expansion of tumor masses in the lungs. We here aim to analyze the biological, genetic and pathological features of metastatic lesions to the lungs, here referred to as site of metastatic growth. This point should be a crucial part of the algorithm for a proper diagnostic and therapeutic approach in the era of personalized medicine
Prolonged-release oxycodone-naloxone for pain management in advanced EGFR wild-type lung cancer patients
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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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