Survival Rates Have Improved Among Patients With Early Stage NSCLC, Research Indicates

By Dr Deepu

Finally a ray of hope for lung cancer patients, in a finding, researchers report that survival rates have improved among those with early stage disease.

The study included more than 65,000 people diagnosed with stage 1 non-small-cell lung cancer between 2000 and 2010. In that group, 62 percent had surgery, 15 percent received radiation therapy, 3 percent had both surgery and radiation and 18 percent received neither treatment.

The two-year survival rate for people treated with either surgery or radiation therapy rose from 61 percent in 2000 to 70 percent in 2009 -- corresponding to a 3.5 percent annual decrease in death from lung cancer.

Author also noted that while the proportion of patients who did not receive treatment fell from about 20 percent in 2000 to just under 16 percent in 2010, too many still do not receive treatment for "an otherwise highly curable disease."

Read the full study

E-Cigarettes May Cause Unique Harm To Innate Lung Immunity, Research Suggests

By Dr Deepu

Research indicates “e-cigarettes cause unique harm to innate lung immunity, challenging the concept that they are a healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes.” The findings were published in the American Journal of Respiratory Critical Care Medicine.

Researchers collected induced sputum samples from 15 current e-cigarette users, 14 current cigarette smokers, and 15 never-smokers. They analyzed the samples using quantitative proteomics, as well as total and individual mucin concentrations. Neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation was also analyzed and compared among the groups.

The researchers found that both cigarette smokers and e-cigarette users had a significant increase in oxidative stress-related proteins, such as thioredoxin (TXN), compared with nonsmokers (P ≤ 0.05 for all levels). These proteins are markers of activation of the innate defense mechanisms associated with lung disease, the researchers explain.

Compared with cigarette smokers and nonsmokers, e-cigarette users had higher levels of neutrophil granulocyte- and NET-related proteins, including matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), a major contributor to chronic lung disease (P ≤ 0.05 for all levels). These elevations were seen despite no increase in the sputum neutrophil cell counts.

Total mucin concentrations were highest in the sputum of smokers and were similar among e-cigarette users and nonsmokers. But, mucin composition, which has been correlated to progression of lung disease in previous studies, was similar between smokers and e-cigarette users.

The elevated levels of markers known to be associated with cigarette smoke and lung disease/inflammation, such as TXN and MMP-9, in the sputum of both cigarette smokers and e-cigarette users, indicates commonality in the impacts of these products on airway physiology, such as increased oxidative stress and activation of innate defense mechanisms.
12 of the 15 e-cigarette users smoked cigarettes in the past, and 5 said they occasionally still smoked cigarettes.

Authors wrote "In conclusion, our results challenge the concept that e-cigarettes are a healthier alternative to cigarettes and reverse smoking-induced adverse health effects,".

Emergency funding needed to combat climate change -WMA

By Dr Deepu

 (WMA News Release, October 20, 2017).

A call for national governments to provide designated funds for the strengthening of health systems to combat climate change has come from the World Medical Association. In a policy statement adopted at its annual Assembly in Chicago, the WMA emphasises the urgency for taking action and for emergency planning on local, national and international levels.

WMA President Dr Yoshitake Yokokura said: ‘With the next United Nations conference on climate change less than a month away, it is important that the voice of the world’s physicians is heard about the risks posed to health by climate change’. 

The WMA says that human influence on the climate system is clear, with recent emissions of green-house gases the highest in history. Recent climate changes have had widespread impact on human and natural systems. Compelling evidence proves numerous health risks which threaten all countries. These include more frequent and potentially more severe heatwaves, droughts, floods, storms and bushfires. 

Climate change, especially warming, is already leading to changes in the environment in which disease paths flourish. There is reduced availability and quality of potable water, and worsening food insecurity leading to malnutrition and population displacement. And although climate change is universal, its effects are uneven, with many of the areas most affected the least able to manage the challenges it poses. Those with generally the poorest health and lowest life and health expectancy will be least able to adapt to the adverse effects of climate. 

Dr Yokokura said: ‘We are also urging national governments to provide for the health and wellbeing of people displaced by environmental causes, including those becoming refugees because of the consequences of climate change’

BOOP

By Dr Deepu sourced from Chest Council of India
BOOP

Terminology

Organising pneumonia (OP) is a histologic pattern of alveolar inflammation with varied aetiology (including pulmonary infection). The idiopathic form of OP is called cryptogenic organising pneumonia (COP) and it belongs toidiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIP's).

COP was previously termed bronchiolitis obliterans organising pneumonia (BOOP), not to be confused with bronchiolitis obliterans per se.
Epidemiology

The presentation is commonest in the 55-60 age group.
Clinical presentation

Patients present with a short history (i.e. less than ~2 months) of breathlessness, non-productive cough, weight loss, malaise and fever. There is no association with smoking.
Pathology

In addition to the alveolar inflammatory changes found with regular pneumonia, there is also the involvement of the bronchioles.

Histologically, it is characterised by mild chronic patchy interstitial inflammation without fibrosis and the presence of buds of granulation tissue made of mononuclear cells, foamy macrophages, and fibrous tissue (Masson bodies) in the distal airspaces which may cause secondary bronchiolar occlusion due to extension of the inflammatory process. Hence, the reason for being previously termed bronchiolitis obliterans organising pneumonia (BOOP).
Radiographic features

Plain radiograph
consolidation unilateral or bilateral patchy areas (commonest finding ): often migratory can affect all lung zones usually peripheral, subpleural, peribronchovascular nodules foci of granulation tissue up to 1 cmmay mimic neoplasm if >5 cm in sizemay be numerous in immunocompromised patients

CT

The most common HRCT features include:

patchy consolidation with a predominantly subpleural and/or peribronchial distribution small, ill-defined peribronchial or peribronchiolar nodules large nodules or masses bronchial wall thickening or dilatation in the abnormal lung regions perilobular pattern with ill-defined linear opacities that are thicker than the thickened interlobular septa and have an arcade or polygonal appearanceground glass opacity or crazy paving

The reverse halo sign (atoll sign) is considered to be highly specific, although only seen in ~20% of patients with COP
History and etymology

It was first described by Davison and colleagues in 1983.
Differential diagnosis

On radiograph consider:

differential for peripheral consolidation:
reverse bat wing opacitiesdifferential for bilateral airspace opacities

On CT consider:

adenocarcinoma in situ or minimally invasive (formerly bronchoalveolar carcinoma)pulmonary lymphoma
pulmonary vasculitis/vasculitides
sarcoidosis chronic eosinophilic pneumonia (for a subpleural consolidative pattern)

Patients With COPD Who Live Alone May Be Less Active, Research Suggests

By Dr Deepu

A recent research suggests “patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who live with a spouse, partner, or other caregiver are more active than patients who live alone, and are also more likely to participate in pulmonary rehabilitation programs.” The findings are to be published online in Annals of the American Thoracic Society.
Patients with partners are associated with an 11-fold higher likelihood of participation in a pulmonary rehabilitation program, according to the retrospective analysis of data from the CASCADE (COPD Activity: Serotonin Transporter, Cytokines and Depression) study of depression and functioning among COPD patients, to be published online in Annals of the American Thoracic Society.
The analysis included 282 CASCADE study participants with moderate to severe (GOLD Stage II-IV) COPD (age: 68 ± 9; FEV₁% predicted: 45 ± 16) recruited from two Veterans Administration hospitals and two academic medical centers. Eighty percent of the patients were white men, 90% reported having a family caregiver, and 75% lived with others (family members or friends).

Physical activity was measured with a validated accelerometer at baseline, and at 1 and 2 years. Additional self-care behaviors assessed included pulmonary rehabilitation attendance, smoking status, receipt of influenza and/or pneumococcal vaccinations, and medication adherence.

Structural social support indicators included living status, being partnered, the number of close friends/relatives, and the presence of a family caregiver.

Functional social support was measured with the Medical Outcomes Social Support Survey (MOSSS), and mixed-effects and logistic regression models were also used.

Among the main findings:

Participants who lived with others took 903 more steps per day than those who lived alone (95% CI, 373-1433; P=0.001)
Increases in the MOSSS total score were associated with more steps per day (β=10, 95% CI, 2-18; P=0.02)
The odds of pulmonary rehabilitation participation were more than 11 times higher if a patient had a spouse or partner caregiver compared with not having a caregiver (OR=11.03, 95% CI, 1.93-62.97; P<0.01)
Higher functional social support (MOSSS total score) was associated with marginally lower odds of smoking (OR=0.99, 95% CI, 0.98-1.00; P=0.03) and higher odds of pneumococcal vaccination (OR=1.02, 95% CI,m 1.00-1.03; P=0.02)
No significant relationships were seen between social support and influenza vaccination or adherence with inhaler or nebulizer medications.