Early diagnosis of lung cancer is difficult because of it’s lacking in distinctive clinical characteristics. With the development of CT technology for chest, the detection rate of pulmonary nodules is increasing year by year and acquires extensive attention. Therefore, the accurate clinical diagnosis to identify the character of solitary pulmonary nodules is urgently needed. However, the current clinical applications of different diagnosis have pluses and minuses. In this paper, we mainly review the diagnosis, management strategies and the existing problems of solitary pulmonary nodules based on the cancer-screening guidelines of Fleischner Society, American College of Chest Physicians, National Comprehensive Cancer Network, Evaluation of Pulmonary Nodules: Clinical Practice Consensus Guidelines for Asia, and Chinese Consensus on Pulmonary Nodules, and clinical research progress of pulmonary nodules.
Objective To discuss the effectiveness of salmeterol in treating a case of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods Aimed at the effectiveness of salmeterol in treating COPD patients, a comprehensive search was conducted in EMbase Web (2007 to 2011) and EBSCOhost Web (2000 to 2010) to obtain and evaluate the relevant systematic reviews, meta-analysis and randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and finally to apply the best evidence in clinical practice. Results There were 2 systematic reviews, 3 meta-analyses and 172 RCTs in the initial retrieval; and 12 RCTs and 1 meta-analysis were finally included after being screened. The results indicated a significant improvement in lung function, clinical symptoms and life quality after inhalation of sameterol in COPD patients. The patient had a good effect when the above evidence was applied at the patient’s will. Conclusion The inhalation of salmeterol for COPD can significantly improve lung function, alleviate clinic symptoms and improve life quality of the patients. But there are still some side-effects which should be considered in practical applications.
Objective To investigate the prognostic value of ERBB2 Exon20ins (Exon20ins) in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients receiving first-line chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical data from ERBB2-mutant stage IV NSCLC patients who received first-line chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy at West China Hospital of Sichuan University between 2020 and 2024. ERBB2 wild-type patients were matched using propensity score matching. Clinical pathological characteristics, distant metastatic sites, and treatment outcomes were compared among patients with different mutation statuses. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS), and Kaplan-Meier method was used to plot survival curves. Cox regression analysis was performed to adjust for confounding factors. Results This study included 41 ERBB2-mutant stage IV NSCLC patients, of whom 22 had Exon20ins mutations, and 19 had other ERBB2 mutations. Forty-one ERBB2 wild-type patients were matched for comparison. The mean age of all patients was 60.0±9.3 years, with 61 males (74.4%). A total of 67 patients (81.7%) received chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy, and 15 patients (18.3%) received chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy and anti-angiogenesis therapy. The Exon20ins group showed a higher incidence of lymph node metastasis compared with the ERBB2 other mutation group and the wild-type group (36.4% vs. 15.8% vs. 9.8%, P=0.045). The median PFS in the Exon20ins group was significantly shorter than in the other mutation group (5.8 months vs. 10.3 months, P=0.025) and the wild-type group (5.8 months vs. 8.3 months, P=0.023). Univariate Cox regression analysis indicated that the ERBB2 Exon20ins mutation was an adverse prognostic factor (Exon20ins vs. other ERBB2 mutations, HR=2.9, 95%CI 1.18 - 7.1, P=0.014; Exon20ins vs. wild-type, HR=2.6, 95%CI 1.25 - 5.6, P=0.014). The combination with anti-angiogenesis therapy did not significantly affect the prognosis of PFS (HR=0.66, 95%CI 0.28 - 1.6, P=0.363). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that the ERBB2 Exon20ins mutation was an independent adverse prognostic factor for PFS (Exon20ins vs. other ERBB2 mutations, HR=3.3, 95%CI 1.27 - 8.3, P=0.015; Exon20ins vs. wild-type, HR=2.7, 95%CI 1.2 - 5.88, P=0.014). For the 67 patients receiving chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy, Cox regression analysis showed that the ERBB2 Exon20ins mutation was still associated with poor prognosis in advanced NSCLC (Exon20ins vs. other ERBB2 mutations, HR=3.2, 95%CI 1.12 - 9.1, P=0.030; Exon20ins vs. wild-type, HR=2.5, 95%CI 1 - 5.88, P=0.040). Conclusions Advanced NSCLC patients with ERBB2 Exon20ins mutation have a worse prognosis compared with those with other ERBB2 mutation subtypes or ERBB2 wild-type when treated with first-line chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy. This suggests that ERBB2 Exon20ins mutation, as a particularly refractory mutation, requires the exploration of new combination strategies based on molecular subtyping to improve survival outcomes.
ObjectiveTo explore the prognostic value of modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS) in lung cancer patients.MethodsThe clinical data and follow-up information of patients with lung cancer diagnosed for the first time in West China Hospital of Sichuan University from August 2008 to May 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Overall survival (OS) of patients with different mGPS were compared by Kaplan-Meier test and log-rank test. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis were performed, and hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were counted to evaluate the predictive value of different prognostic factors in patients with lung cancer.ResultsA total of 289 patients were included. According to the mGPS score, 127 patients had 0 point, 90 patients had 1 point, and 72 patients had 2 points. The OS of lung cancer patients with mGPS=0 was better than that of patients with mGPS=1 and mGPS=2 (P<0.001). Cox proportional hazards of univariate analysis revealed that age< 65 (P=0.022), stage for Ⅰand Ⅱ (P<0.001), surgery (P<0.001), chemotherapy (P=0.018), and mGPS=0 (1 vs. 0, P=0.008; 2 vs. 0, P<0.001) were the protective factors for lung cancer patients (P<0.05). Multiple-factor analysis showed that age [HR=0.680, 95%CI (0.508, 0.911), P=0.010], stage [HR=0.580, 95%CI (0.359, 0.939), P=0.027], operation [HR=0.254, 95%CI (0.140, 0.459), P<0.001], chemotherapy [HR=0.624, 95%CI (0.435, 0.893), P=0.010], mGPS (1 vs. 0) [HR=1.548, 95%CI (1.101, 2.176), P=0.012] and mGPS (2 vs. 0) [HR=1.425, 95%CI (1.003, 2.024), P=0.048] were independent predictors of OS in patients with lung cancer.ConclusionmGPS could be considered as an independent prognostic factor in lung cancer.
Objective To systematically review the cost-effectiveness of gefitinib for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), in order to provide the economics values of gefitinib for clinical application. Method We electronically searched databases including PubMed, Ovid, Embase, Cochrane Library, Medline, China National Knowledge Internet, VIP, and Wanfang database for articles about the cost-effectiveness of gefitinib for advanced NSCLC patients from January 1946 to October 2017, and then performed a systematic literature review of economic evaluations of geftinib. Results A total of 20 independent studies were included in the present systematic review, in which 8 were the first-line treatment, 9 were the second-line treatment, 1 was the third-line treatment, and 2 were maintenance treatment. The most common comparison was gefitinib vs. chemotherapy (n=7), and other comparisons were gefitinib vs. erlotinib (n=4), gefitinib vs. docetaxel (n=3), gefitinib vs. placebo (n=2), gefitinib vs. icotinib (n=2), gefitinib vs. afatinib (n=1), and gefitinib vs. other treatments (n=1). For the advanced NSCLC patients, the first- or second-line treatment with gefitinib compared to chemotherapy was considered to be more cost-effective, especially in patients with mutated epidermal growth factor receptor gene. As the second-line treatment, gefitinib was considered to be more economical than erlotinib and docetaxel. Conclusion Gefitinib is considered to be a cost-effective strategy for the advanced NSCLC patients as the first- or second-line therapy.