Lung cancer : journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer
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Multicenter Study
Histology significantly affects recurrence and survival following SBRT for early stage non-small cell lung cancer.
Contrary to prevailing notions of uniform efficacy regarding stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a recent report has indicated increased risk of local failure for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). As those data have not been corroborated by other studies, we performed a multi-institutional analysis to evaluate the influence of histology on post-SBRT outcomes. ⋯ This multi-institutional analysis corroborates that SCC histology is independently predictive for local, regional, and distant recurrence and worse overall survival. Future data are needed to determine if treatment paradigms should differ by histology for early stage NSCLC.
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In lung cancer and other malignancies, the so-called "liquid biopsy" is quickly moving into clinical practice. Its full potential has not yet been fully identified, but the "liquid biopsy" is no longer a promise but has become a reality that allows for better treatment selection and monitoring of lung cancer. This emerging field has significant potential to make up for the limitations of the traditional tissue-derived biomaterials. ⋯ Recently, a growing number of studies has focused on exosomal cargo and their use in lung cancer genesis and progression. In addition, their utility as lung cancer diagnostic, prognostic and predictive biomarkers have also been studied. The current review primarily summaries lung cancer-related exosomal biomarkers that have recently been identified and discusses their potential in clinical practice.
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Case Reports
GCC2-ALK as a targetable fusion in lung adenocarcinoma and its enduring clinical responses to ALK inhibitors.
ALK, RET and ROS1 fusions have been identified as treatable targets in 5%-15% of non-small-cell lung cancers, and thanks to the advanced sequencing technologies, their new partner genes have been steadily detected. Here we identified a rare fusion of ALK (GCC2-ALK) in a patient with advanced lung adenocarcinoma and monitored the treatment efficacy of ALK inhibitors on this patient. We further performed in vitro functional studies of this fusion protein for evaluating its oncogenic potential. ⋯ We identified and functionally validated GCC2-ALK as a constitutively activated fusion in NSCLC. The patient was benefited from crizotinib treatment initially and then ceritinib after progression, suggesting GCC2-ALK as a novel therapeutic target for ALK inhibitors.
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Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) has been viewed as a smoking-related disease, with only 2% to 5% patients being never-smokers. This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics of never-smoking and its association with treatment outcomes in Chinese SCLC patients in real world. ⋯ The current study indicated that never-smokers are increasingly prevalent in Chinese patients with SCLC. Never-smokers with SCLC had significantly longer PFS and OS compared with smokers, and smoking was an independent poor prognostic factor for PFS in patients with SCLC.