Ricerc@Sapienza

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has quickly spread globally, causing a real pandemic. In this critical scenario, lung cancer patients scheduled for surgical treatment need to continue to receive optimal care while protecting them from an eventual severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Adequate use of personal protective equipment (PPE) during aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs) and a COVID-19 specific intraoperative management are paramount in order to prevent cross infections.

Background: Few investigators have described en bloc resection of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) invading the aorta. Aim of Study: Analysis of outcome and prognostic factors for en bloc resections of NSCLC invading the aorta. Methods: Thirty-five patients (27 males, 8 females; mean age 63 ± 8.6 years) were operated between 1994 and 2015 in four European Centers. Histology: 12 (34.3%) squamous cell carcinoma, and 6 (17.1%) undifferentiated/large cell carcinoma.

We have read with great interest the letter from Dr. Perentes and colleagues (1) with his comments about our recent paper (2). Dr. Perentes agrees with our results affirming that for the treatment of centrally located lung cancer sleeve lobectomy should be preferred over pneumonectomy even after induction treatment. Our paper included patients undergoing Y sleeve lobectomy after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Other experiences on sleeve lobectomy after induction treatment, reporting good results have been published (3-5).

PURPOSE:
Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy has become an accepted procedure for the treatment of selected cases of lung cancer. The aim of this project was to establish national practical recommendations for the management of patients suitable for VATS lobectomy.

Oxidative stress (OS) is associated with many diseases ranging from cancer to neurodegenerative disorders. Nuclear factor-erythroid 2 p45-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is one of the most effective cytoprotective controller against OS. Modulation of Nrf2 pathway constitutes a remarkable strategy in the antineoplastic treatments. A big number of Nrf2-antioxidant response element activators have been screened for use as chemo-preventive drugs in OS associated diseases like cancer even though activation of Nrf2 happens in a variety of cancers.

A clear cell tumor is a histological entity that rarely originates outside of the kidney. We describe a rare case of a clear cell tumor of the lung, also known as “sugar cancer,” that occurred in a 74 year-old male patient, and perform a brief literature review. This report highlights the importance of an adequate disease management team, including surgeons, oncologists, and pathologists, to identify the best therapeutic approach to improve survival rates and the quality of life of patients affected by this rare disease.

Resection and reconstruction of the pulmonary artery (PA), whether associated or not to a
sleeve resection of the bronchus, allows complete resection of centrally located lung cancer, thus avoiding
pneumonectomy. Despite initial concern related to technical difficulties, perioperative management and long
term survival, recent studies showed continuous enhancement of the surgical technique and reconstruction
materials, reduction of the complication rate and improvement in the survival. This allowed this procedure

The topic of the paper by Hino et al. (1) is crucial and it will become even more important in the future due to the increasing number of elderly patients in our surgical wards. The aim of authors was to retrospectively identify the risk factors for postoperative complications comparing two prognostic scores (Charlson Comorbidity Index and Glasgow Prognostic Score) and to assess long-term survival in a large multi-institutional cohort of patients aged 80 years or older.

Background

Second cancer is the leading cause of death in lymphoma survivors, with lung cancer representing the most common solid tumor. Limited information exists about the treatment and prognosis of second lung cancer following lymphoma. Herein, we evaluated the outcome and prognostic factors of Lung Cancer in Lymphoma Survivors (the LuCiLyS study) to improve the patient selection for lung cancer treatment.

Methods

Background: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) needs to be validated and standardized to ensure that cancer patients are reliably selected for target treatments. In Italy, NGS is performed in several institutions and harmonization of wet and dry procedures is needed. To this end, a consortium of five different laboratories, covering the most part of the Italian peninsula, was constituted.