Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a common but serious condition that is related with poor quality of life, morbidity and mortality. Its incidence and associated healthcare costs are rising and its management remains palliative, with median survival ranging from 3 to 12 months. During the last decade there has been significant progress in unravelling the pathophysiology of MPE, as well as its…
Management of symptomatic malignant pleural effusions is becoming more complex due to the range of treatment options, which include therapeutic thoracenteses, thoracoscopic talc pleurodesis, bedside pleurodesis with talc or other sclerosing agents via small-bore chest catheters, indwelling pleural catheters, surgery, or a combination of some of these procedures
Computed tomography (CT) is the primary imaging modality used to investigate human patients with suspected malignant or inflammatory pleural effusion, but there is a lack of information about the clinical use of this test in dogs. To identify CT signs that could be used to distinguish pleural malignant neoplasia from pleuritis, a retrospective case-control study was done based on dogs that had …
More than 75% of the cases of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are diagnosed in advanced stages (IIIA-IV). Although in these patients the role of surgery is unclear, complete tumor resection can be achieved in selected cases, with good long-term survival. In this review, current indications for surgery in advanced NSCLC are discussed. In stage IIIA (N2), surgery after induction chemotherap…
Surgery for cT1-2, N0-1, M1 or cT3, N0, M1 disease is associated with a 5-year survival of 25% and does not appear to compromise outcomes when compared to non-operative therapy, supporting guidelines that recommend surgery for very select patients with stage IV disease. However, surgery provides less benefit and should be considered much less often for stage IV patients with mediastinal noda…
Patients with advanced EGFR-mutant or ALK-positive non–smallcell lung cancer (NSCLC) have a high cumulative risk (>70%) for developing brainmetastases (BrM) during the course of their disease. Recently, an update of the graded prognostic assessment (GPA) for patients with NSCLCandBrMhas established that molecular alterations in EGFR or ALK are an independent prognostic factor for betteroutcomes.
Adjuvant platinum based chemotherapy is accepted as standard of care in stage II and III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and is often considered in patients with stage IB disease who have tumors ≥ 4 cm. The survival advantage is modest with approximately 5% at 5 years
The role of immunotherapy in treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been gaining interest over the past few years. This has been driven primarily by promising results from trials evaluating antagonist antibodies that target coinhibitory immune checkpoints expressed on tumor cells and immune cells within the tumor microenvironment. Immune checkpoints exist to dampen or terminate im…
The role of immunotherapy in treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been gaining interest over the past few years. This has been driven primarily by promising results from trials evaluating antagonist antibodies that target coinhibitory immune checkpoints expressed on tumor cells and immune cells within the tumor microenvironment. Immune checkpoints exist to dampen or terminate…
Gastric cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the world, the epidemiology of which has changed within last decades. A trend of steady decline in gastric cancer incidence rates is the effect of the increased standards of hygiene, conscious nutrition, and Helicobacter pylori eradication, which together constitute primary prevention. Avoidance of gastric cancer remain…