Journal of thoracic oncology : official publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer
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Multicenter Study
Increased lung cancer risk among patients with pulmonary tuberculosis: a population cohort study.
Given one third of the human population have been infected with tuberculosis, it is important to delineate the relationship between tuberculosis and lung cancer. This study explored whether contracting pulmonary tuberculosis is associated with an increased risk of developing lung cancers. ⋯ This study provides a compelling evidence of increased lung cancer risk among individuals with tuberculosis. The risk may increase further with coexisting COPD or other smoking-related cancers.
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Kappa statistics is used for the assessment of agreement between two or more raters when the measurement scale is categorical. In this short summary, we discuss and interpret the key features of the kappa statistics, the impact of prevalence on the kappa statistics, and its utility in clinical research. We also introduce the weighted kappa when the outcome is ordinal and the intraclass correlation to assess agreement in an event the data are measured on a continuous scale.
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Malignant airway obstruction accounts for significant morbidity and mortality in patients with lung and metastatic cancer. We prospectively assessed the effects of bronchoscopic interventions for the treatment of malignant airway obstruction, with specific attention to exercise capacity and quality of life (QoL). ⋯ Bronchoscopic intervention for malignant airway obstruction is associated with improvement in 6MWT, spirometry, and dyspnea at 30 days.
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Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is a minimally invasive modality with a high diagnostic yield for mediastinal lymph node staging of patients with lung cancer. Although limited to the use of needle aspiration during EBUS-TBNA, aspirates has been shown to be useful for molecular analysis. However, the ideal methodology of the specimen handling during EBUS-TBNA has not been described. ⋯ Obtaining adequate samples through a non-surgical biopsy technique for pathologic diagnosis as well as molecular analysis will be of immediate importance for personalized management of lung cancer. EBUS-TBNA is an ideal approach that allows combined pathological and molecular analysis of metastatic lymph nodes.