[Bronchial carcinoma and tobacco: An update]

Lung cancer remains the most lethal cancer. The most common cause is smoking, which is also preventable, unlike the causes of other types of cancer. A genetic characteristic has emerged over several years, which explains particular profiles of smokers, or highly dependent smokers. The emergence of new therapies for the treatment of lung cancer, and the impact of tobacco on reducing the effectiveness of these therapies must challenge practitioners to obtain a complete cessation of smoking regardless of the stage of the disease.

Impact of systematic advanced care planning in lung cancer patients: A prospective study

BACKGROUND

End-of-life (EOL) communication is crucial, particularly for cancer patients. While advanced care planning is still uncommon, we sought to investigate its impact on care intensity in case of organ failure in lung cancer patients.

METHODS

We prospectively included consecutive lung cancer patients hospitalised at the Grenoble University Hospital, France, between January 1, 2014 and March 31, 2016. Patients could be admitted several times and benefited from advanced care planning based on three care intensities: intensive care, maximal medical care, and exclusive palliative care. Patients' wishes were addressed.

RESULTS

Data of 739 hospitalisations concerning 482 patients were studied. During the three first admissions, 173 (25%) patients developed organ failure, with intensive care proposed to 56 (32%), maximal medical care to 104 (60%), and exclusive palliative care to 13 (8%). Median time to organ failure was 9 days [IQR 25%-75%: 3-13]. All patients benefited from care intensity that was either equal to or lower than the care proposed. Specific wishes were recorded for 158 (91%) patients, with a discussion about EOL conditions held in 116 (73%).

CONCLUSIONS

In case of organ failure, advanced care planning helps provide reasonable care intensity. The role of the patient's wishes as to the proposed care must be further investigated.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

The study was registered at www.ClinicalTrials.gov with the identifier NCT02852629.

[Limitations of active therapeutic and palliative care in chronic respiratory disease]

The issue of intensive and palliative care in patients with chronic disease frequently arises. This review aims to describe the prognostic factors of chronic respiratory diseases in stable and in acute situations in order to improve the management of these complex situations. The various laws on patients' rights provide a legal framework and define the concept of unreasonable obstinacy. For patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the most robust decision factors are good knowledge of the respiratory disease, the comorbidities, the history of previous exacerbations and patient preferences. In the case of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, it is necessary to know if there is a prospect of transplantation and to assess the reversibility of the respiratory distress. In the case of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, treatment decisions depend on the presence of advance directives about the use of intubation and tracheostomy. For lung cancer patients, general condition, cancer history and the tumor treatment plan are important factors. A multidisciplinary discussion that takes into account the patient's medical history, wishes and the current state of knowledge permits the taking of a coherent decision.

Personalized chemotherapy of lung cancer: What the radiologist should know

Lung cancer is the leading cause of deaths due to cancer in France. More than half of lung cancers are discovered at an advanced-stage. New anticancer treatment strategies (i.e., the so-called personalized or targeted therapy) have recently been introduced and validated for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), in addition to or in association with standard chemotherapy. Personalized therapy includes tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), antiangiogenic treatments and immunotherapy. Because these treatments may be responsible for atypical thoracic adverse effects and responses as compared to standard chemotherapy, RECIST 1.1 criteria may be inadequate to evaluate the responses to these agents. The goal of this article was to review personalized treatment strategies for NSCLC, to consider the therapy-specific responses and thoracic complications induced by these new therapeutic agents and finally to discuss future directions for the personalized assessment of tumor response.

[Hemolytic anemia under erlotinib treatment]

Erlotinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor widely prescribed of which the most common sides effects are grade I or II rash and diarrhea. We report two cases of hemolytic anemia (HA) induced by erlotinib. Our two patients were treated with erlotinib after a prior line of systemic platinum-doublet therapy for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. Both patients presented, shortly after starting treatment with erlotinib, an HA which was fatal for one of them. To our knowledge, this major side effect of erlotinib has not been reported in the literature. We will try through this article to make a literature review of the most important side effects of erlotinib and we will also focus on the HA induced by other molecules used in oncology.

[Crizotinib: a targeted therapy in advanced ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer]

Crizotinib is a small orally-administered ALK inhibitor for patients with non-small cell lung cancer with EML4-ALK rearrangement (echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4 and anaplastic lymphoma kinase). This fusion gene is detected with a break apart fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay. Phase I to III trials have shown an interesting disease control rate and acceptable tolerability. Crizotinib is available in France under temporary use authorization. New potentially effective therapeutics in ALK-positive NSCLC are being developed.

[Atypical metastatic site of lung adenocarcinoma]

The case concerns a 40 years old smoker male, treated for an adenocarcinoma of the left upper lobe, metastatic in muscle extended to the right femur cortex. The patient had first a surgical excision of the mass of the thigh, an intramedullary femoral nailing, and six courses of chemotherapy (cisplatin-vinorelbine) with concurrent thoracic radiotherapy. This treatment led to disease stability. One year later, hematuria revealed a bladder tumor. Cystoscopy with biopsy concluded to an adenocarcinoma pulmonary origin. The PET-scanner showed an uptake of the bladder mass, a hypermetabolic right adrenal gland and subcutaneous left shoulder nodule. The patient had a partial cystectomy associated with enterocystoplasty and left ureteral reimplantation, plus excision of the subcutaneous nodule located in the left shoulder and a right adrenalectomy during the same time. All of the sites were metastasis from adenocarcinoma of pulmonary origin. A salvage chemotherapy was initiated. In the vast majority of cases, bladder metastasis as primary bladder tumours is revealed by hematuria, cystitis or sometimes vague pelvic pain. Our case is a very unusual bladder metastatic site from lung cancer. We will discuss the different procedures and the therapeutic strategies on the basis of the published data.

[Disseminated intravascular coagulation syndrome and thromboembolic complications of non-small-cell lung cancer. A case report]

Hemostatic disorders can be found in approximately 90% of cancer patients, but clinical expression in only 15%. Hemorrhagic complications are more frequent in acute leukaemia; solid tumors are often associated with deep venous thromboses (DVP). Disseminated intravascular coagulation syndrome (DICS) can be latent or acute, and has various clinical presentations, occurring in the course of many serious conditions including cancer. Patients have higher morbidity and mortality. Irrespective of the etiology, DICS can be revealed by a wide variety of clinical manifestations, from mild biological hemostasis disorders, to intravascular or extravascular microthromboses or lethal hemorrhagic events. We report the case of a 45-year-old female with non-small-cell lung cancer with metastases at diagnosis. The patient developed and finally died of numberous thromboembolic events subsequent to DICS. This case illustrates some rather rare complications of DICS and offers the opportunity to discuss the main therapeutic goal in this situation, i.e. to modulate the disproportionate production of thrombin, inducing thromboses and/or hemorrhages by consumption of the cellular and plasmatic coagulation factors. This means a symptomatic and mostly etiologic treatment, especially chemotherapy which can in itself provoke thromboembolic events.