Giant Solitary Fibrous Tumor of the Pleura: An Analysis of Five Patients

Ó The Author(s) 2010. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Background Solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura (SFTP) represents a clinical entity rarely encountered, especially in giant forms. Complete surgical resection for giant tumor of pleura is a challenge. The aim of this article is to present five new cases of giant SFTP, and to discuss their clinical characteristics and the treatment strategy of such neoplasms. Methods We performed a retrospective review of the clinical records of five patients who underwent surgery for a huge SFTP ([18 cm in diameter) between 2007 and 2009. Results Four patients were symptomatic. All five patients underwent angiography and embolization of the tumorsupplying vessels within 24 h of surgery. All giant tumors were removed completely by extended postlateral thoracotomy with moderate intraoperative bleeding. Two wedge resections and one lobectomy were performed in three cases where the parenchyma had been encroached. Tumors in three patients were pathologically benign; those in the other two were malignant. The symptoms disappeared in all cases after surgery. Conclusions Complete resection remains the mainstay of cure for giant SFTP. We recommend preoperative angiography and embolization for giant SFTP which can reduce the risk of hemorrhage and can contribute to piecemeal removal for radical excision

Amrubicin therapy improves patients with refractory small-cell lung cancer: A single-arm confirmatory Chinese clinical study

Our objective was to evaluate an open-label, multicenter, single-arm study to appraise whether amrubicin therapy improves patients with refractory small-cell lung cancer in Chinese clinical study. Patients (n=95) with refractory small-cell lung cancer received 3 consecutive days amrubicin therapy for 21 days. Overall response rate of response to amrubicin was 39%. Anemia, febrile neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, hyperglycemia, hyponatremia, infection, elevated serum transaminases levels were appeared, but the incidences of adverse events were very few. Our results suggest amrubicin therapy can improve patients with refractory small-cell lung cancer and may be an effective and safe treatment option.

The expression and clinical significance of heparanase in non-small cell lung cancer

Background and objective It has been proven that heparanase played an important role in tumorigenesis. The aim of this work is to investigate the level of expression of heparanase protein in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to explore the relationship between heparanase expression and NSCLC histological types and prognosis. Methods Immunohistochemical method was used to detect the heparanase expression in the routinely paraffin-embedded sections of surgical specimen of 66 cases with NSCLC and 15 ones with normal lung tissues. Results Heparanase was highly expressed in lung cancer tissues (74.2％) while negative in epithelia of normal lung tissues. Theexpression of heparanase was significantly correlated with TNM stage (P =0.042) and lymphatic metastasis (P =0.005). The patients with positive heparanase expression had a significantly shorter survival rate than those with negative heparanase expression (P =0.025). Conclusion Heparanase has more expression in NSCLC than normal lung tissues. It was correlated with TNM stage and lymphatic metastasis and prognosis of NSCLC. However, heparanase expression is not an independent prognostic factor

Thin-walled Cystic Lung Cancer: An Analysis of 24 Cases and Review of Literatures

Background and objective Lung cancer presenting as cystic lesions was first described by Anderson and Pierce in 1954. Lung cancer presenting as cysts is a rare entity in clinical practice. Differential diagnosis is difficult in the benign-like cyst. This study investigated the clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer presenting as cysts. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of the clinical records of 24 patients who underwent surgery for a primary lung cancer presenting as cysts in our department between 2007 and 2013. We defined a ‘Thin-walled cyst’ as a cavitary lesion with a wall thickness of 4 mm or less along at least 75% of the circumference of the lesion. The whole group underwent post-operative follow-up. Results The incidence of cystic lung cancer was 0.49% (24/4,897) of surgical cases. The subjects’ age ranged from 19 to 77 yr with a median age of 56.5 yr. Ten cases presented with respiratory symptoms while 14 showed abnormal shadows on a chest CT without symptoms. Histological analysis showed that 18 cases were of adenocarcinoma, three of squamous cell carcinoma, one of small cell carcinoma, one of adenosquamous carcinoma and one of large cell carcinoma. Three patients were dead, and the remaining 21 patients are alive and disease free at the end of follow-up. Conclusion Cystic lung cancer should be kept in mind during the differential diagnosis of focal benign cyst. Cystic lung cancer could achieve a good outcome if early diagnose can be obtained

Ligand recognition and G protein coupling of the human itch receptor MRGPRX1

Abstract MRGPRX1, a Mas-related GPCR (MRGPR), is a key receptor for itch perception and targeting MRGPRX1 may have potential to treat both chronic itch and pain. Here we report cryo-EM structures of the MRGPRX1-Gi1 and MRGPRX1-Gq trimers in complex with two peptide ligands, BAM8-22 and CNF-Tx2. These structures reveal a shallow orthosteric pocket and its conformational plasticity for sensing multiple different peptidic itch allergens. Distinct from MRGPRX2, MRGPRX1 contains a unique pocket feature at the extracellular ends of TM3 and TM4 to accommodate the peptide C-terminal “RF/RY” motif, which could serve as key mechanisms for peptidic allergen recognition. Below the ligand binding pocket, the G6.48XP6.50F6.51G6.52X(2)F/W6.55 motif is essential for the inward tilting of the upper end of TM6 to induce receptor activation. Moreover, structural features inside the ligand pocket and on the cytoplasmic side of MRGPRX1 are identified as key elements for both Gi and Gq signaling. Collectively, our studies provide structural insights into understanding itch sensation, MRGPRX1 activation, and downstream G protein signaling