Clinical Characteristic of Thoracic Malignancy Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 Related to Mitigation Strategy in Dharmais National Cancer Center Hospital, Indonesia

Aim: To describe the clinical data and disease severity of thoracic malignancy patients with COVID-19 and its relation to the mitigation process at the Dharmais National Cancer Center, Indonesia. Methods: Total 5256 cancer patients registered from May 2020 to March 2021. There were 681 cancer patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Forty-five thoracic malignancy patients were enrolled. Data from medical records were obtained at the Dharmais Cancer Hospital, then analyzed using SPSS version 25. Comparative result was considered significant, as p-value < 0.05. Results: There were 12.9% of total patients registered infected by COVID-19, which 6% with thoracic malignancy dominated by Non-small cell lung carcinoma (57.8%). Patients who have asymptomatic (31.1%), mild (13.3%), and moderate COVID-19 disease (8.9%) were alive. Patient with severe disease (46.7%) tend to deteriorate. Neutrophilia (mean 78.0%), lymphopenia (mean 13.0%), high neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (mean 13.1), hyperuricemia (mean 31.6 mg/dL), high fibrinogen (mean 521.7 mg/dL), and high d-dimer (mean 3821.6 ng/mL) were significantly associated with disease severity (p-value < 0.05). Conclusions: Only small number of cancer patients affected by COVID-19 and mostly do not progress to severe disease, showing the strict mitigation strategy was successful. Severe disease patients have a poor prognosis, with neutrophilia, lymphopenia, high neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, hyperuricemia, high fibrinogen, and high d-dimer may be valuable for predicting poor prognosis.

Bio-Nanocarriers for Lung Cancer Management: Befriending the Barriers

Lung cancer is a complex thoracic malignancy developing consequential to aberrations in a myriad of molecular and biomolecular signaling pathways. It is one of the most lethal forms of cancers accounting to almost 1.8 million new annual incidences, bearing overall mortality to incidence ratio of 0.87. The dismal prognostic scenario at advanced stages of the disease and metastatic/resistant tumor cell populations stresses the requisite of advanced translational interdisciplinary interventions such as bionanotechnology. This review article deliberates insights and apprehensions on the recent prologue of nanobioengineering and bionanotechnology as an approach for the clinical management of lung cancer. The role of nanobioengineered (bio-nano) tools like bio-nanocarriers and nanobiodevices in secondary prophylaxis, diagnosis, therapeutics, and theranostics for lung cancer management has been discussed. Bioengineered, bioinspired, and biomimetic bio-nanotools of considerate translational value have been reviewed. Perspectives on existent oncostrategies, their critical comparison with bio-nanocarriers, and issues hampering their clinical bench side to bed transformation have also been summarized.

A Retrospective Study on Using a Novel Single Needle Cone Puncture Approach for the Iodine-125 Seed Brachytherapy in Treating Patients With Thoracic Malignancy

BackgroundPatients with progressive thoracic malignancy characterized by large irregular tumors with necrosis and life-threatening symptoms lack effective treatments. We set out to develop a single needle cone puncture method for the Iodine-125 seed (SNCP-125I) brachytherapy, and aim to report the initial results.Methods294 patients with advanced thoracic malignancy were treated with local SNCP-125I brachytherapy between March 2009 and July 2020, followed by thorough evaluation of clinical outcome, overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and procedure-related complications after treatment.ResultsThe overall response rate (ORR) among the treated patients was 81.0% (238/294). Life-threatening symptoms due to tumor oppression, hemoptysis and large irregular tumor with necrosis were successfully alleviated after the SNCP-125I treatment with a remission rate at 91% to 94%. The median OS and PFS were 13.6 months and 5.8 months, respectively. Procedure-related side effects including pneumothorax (32/294), blood-stained sputum (8/294), subcutaneous emphysema (10/294), puncture site bleeding (16/294) and chest pain (6/294) were observed. Patients who were able to follow with chemotherapy or immunotherapy experienced extended OS and PFS, as compared with patients who opted to receive hospice care (16.5 months Vs. 11.2 months). Further pathological and immunological analysis showed that SNCP-125I induced tumor lymphocytes infiltration and long-term tumor necrosis.ConclusionSNCP-125I brachytherapy effectively eliminates life-threatening symptoms due to local tumor oppression, hemoptysis and large irregular and necrotic tumors in patients with unresectable chest malignancy and significantly induces local tumor regression. SNCP-125I brachytherapy combines with chemotherapy significantly prolong OS and PFS compare with SNCP-125I brachytherapy alone.

Atezolizumab with bevacizumab, paclitaxel and carboplatin was effective for patients with SMARCA4-deficient thoracic sarcoma

SMARCA4-deficient thoracic sarcoma (DTS) is a recently noted progressive thoracic malignancy. We recently experienced three cases of SMARCA4-DTS who were treated with atezolizumab in combination with bevacizumab, paclitaxel and carboplatin (ABCP) as the first-line therapy. Immunohistopathological analysis revealed absent expression of SMARCA4 in all cases. The tumor mutational burden was over 11/Mb and mutations in SMARCA4 and TP53 were detected in all three cases. Partial response to ABCP treatment was observed in all three cases, with a progression-free survival of approximately 6 months or longer and a continuous response of 1 year or longer in one case. The first-line ABCP treatment demonstrated durable efficacy in SMARCA4-DTS regardless of the degree of PD-L1 expression.

An Infectious Cause of Esophagobronchial Fistula

An infected cause of esophagobronchial fistula between left bronchus and esophagus is mentioned who is a 32 year old male with a history of smoking and I/V drug abuse. The scientific reasons for suspecting an esophagogastric-bronchial fistula in an adult are discussed, as well as a description of the different etiologies of this condition. Intra thoracic malignancy, injuries, and infections are the most frequent causes of esophageal-bronchial fistula. These fistulas are caused by the rupturing of caseous peribronchial lymph nodes into adjacent structures such as the esophagus and bronchi. It's difficult to determine what the right course of action is. Such cases are surgically treated, while others can only be treated conservatively. Diagnosing bronchoesophageal fisula is usually challenging and often delayed, since there have not been many cases found. Any patient who presents with cough after deglutition should be suspected of having an esophagobronchial fistula, and tubercular origin should also be considered, particularly in an endemic region, since early diagnosis and treatment with anti-tubercular therapy typically results in resolution.