[Role of transthoracic biopsy in the modern diagnosis of tumors of organs in the thoracic cavity]

This review summarizes data of publications and meta-analyses devoted ton the use of transthoracic biopsy. It is showed that the method continues to be one of the main ways to diagnose pathological processes in the thoracic cavity's organs, especially tumors of the lungs, pleura, mediastinum and chest wall. Modern methods of navigation trepan-needles can receive sufficient volume of pathological tissue samples for subsequent full morphological study to individualize and optimize treatment algorithms.

Promoting healthy aging in cities: the Healthy Cities project in Europe

Health promotion is a growing field, spreading into various settings. This paper focuses on the city as a setting for health promotion and on the "Healthy Cities project" (HCP) of the Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organization in particular. In the context of the HCP, various activities to promote the health of older citizens have been carried out in recent years. These are illustrated in this paper through case studies.

[Rationale for surgical treatment of cancer of the lower pulmonary lobe with consideration for regional metastatic spread]

Optimal extent of surgery for lung cancer is determined to a great degree by lymph drainage and regional metastases vis-a-vis tumor localization in the lobes. Data on surgical treatment of 505 cases of cancer of the lower lobe are presented. The study established such peculiarities of metastatic spread to mediastinal lymph collector as relatively frequent involvement of the lower mediastinal lymph nodes ("jumping" metastases included) and greater likelihood of spread to the superior mediastinal lymph nodes when those of radix pulmonis are involved. The latter should be interpreted as an indicator of lower lobe involvement. We established the significance of relatively worse prognosis for mediastinal lymph node involvement as well as high frequency of intrasternal recurrences of tumors located in the left lung. The prevailing evidence on partial resections of the right lung rather than lower bilobectomy and the good results of bilobectomies for stage T1-3N1-2 tumors suggest that conservative treatment might offer more advantage in managing cancer of the lower lobe of the right lung. Extended surgery entails lower incidence of intrasternal recurrence and is more effective when used to treat right-lung tumors.

[Quantitative growth characteristics of pulmonary metastases in cutaneous melanoma]

The dynamics of growth of skin melanoma metastases to the lung versus chemoimmunotherapy regime has been assessed quantitatively. Natural course of such pathology at advanced stages was found to correspond to the exponent. An analytical procedure for plotting graphs was suggested, which will allow to estimate the kinetic characteristics of tumor growth. This in turn can be used as an indicator of therapy efficacy.

[Use of radionuclide diagnostic methods in the detection of distant metastases of lung cancer]

A study of 115 lung cancer patients has shown that indications to the use of multi-modality gammascintigraphy or its separate variants are as follows: the presence of the clinical manifestations of distant metastases, data on a considerable local dissemination of a primary tumor to the lungs, poor differentiation by the histological structure.